Not Of This World
by Draconian Devil
Summary: Whether by coincidence or some cruel twist of fate, an American teenager finds himself Tamriel's only hope of salvation from Oblivion. Terrified, alone, and bewildered, he must question his own sanity and morals in order to be the hero Tamriel needs.
1. Prison Break

**Author's Note: It's been a long time since I've written a fic. Years, in fact. Honestly, I never though I'd write again. But here I am, and here this is. I've had this idea for a while, and just had to get it out of my head and onto some paper. And eventually onto the World Wide Web. With that, please enjoy.**

Updated 12/22/07: Made a few grammatical changes and whatnot, as well as Olafur's corrections. Much thanks! 

Disclaimer: I don't own much of anything in this fic. Except for the general idea, and the main character.

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The ground was cold. Hard. Filthy. And smelled something horrible. A young man of 17 was sprawled out on it, wrinkling his nose as his senses came back to him and the strong, acrid smell wafted through his nostrils. He slowly sat up, rubbing his pounding head. As his eyes slowly came into focus, he was able to make out his surroundings. And the fear and panic hit him hard. 

He found himself in what could only be a jail cell, though it seemed to him more of a cell from the Dark Ages. The cell was made of brick, though in many places the bricks had fallen out and left deep holes in the walls. The layers of cobwebs and dust were so thick that the walls appeared to be of many different shades of gray and brown. A single torch was mounted on the wall, though the air was so thick and heavy that the light seemed hardly able to penetrate through it. A single wooden table stood on the floor, the wood rotting and split.

The teenage boy slowly stood up, unsure of what he was seeing. He was certain that this could only be a dream. No, it HAD to be a dream. But no matter how much he tried to convince himself of this, the more he came to believe it was real. He'd had enough weird, bizarre dreams in his life time to know that they were dreams. This WAS reality. He knew from the fact that he had conscious thought, and his senses were working perfectly, allowing him to feel everything about the room. This did not happen in a dream.

His name was Bradyn Joshua Torrez. Most people called him Brad, some called him Aiden, and his few close friends called him Ade. If for whatever reason someone was trying to insult him, most would call him BJ, thinking the perverted reference would provoke him. Brad would simply laugh and give the insulter a look full of such disdain that the culprit would basically feel like a moron.

Brad was of Hispanic descent, which gave him his last name. He was actually half Irish too, with a bit of German, Italian and French thrown in the mix. This gave him the typical Mexican look, with jet black hair, brown eyes, and facial hair at the age of twelve. While his skin was darker than most, his Irish descent prevented him from naturally being totally tan. Only during the summer would he get really, noticeably dark.

At 5'11", he was at a decent height. Though you couldn't tell from looking at him, he weighed about 145 lbs, give or take a few. He looked thin, but toned, with some noticeably defined muscles, particularly in his legs. He was by no means a bodybuilder, but years of swimming, martial arts and cross country had kept him in shape.

Brad looked around the cell some more. He tried very hard to stay calm and focused, though admittedly it took some effort. He'd never been in a situation like this. Sure, he'd had his fair share of trouble, but he'd never been at such a loss. He had no idea where to even begin. He realized he was wearing some old, moth-eaten shirt that smelled of mildew, as well as some equally nasty pants. They both vaguely reminded him of potato sacks. A pair of thin leather sandals was roughly attached to his feet, held on by a thin strap that dug into his skin.

Leaning against the wall, he took a deep breath, and tried to remember how he got here. He realized with a start that his memory was completely foggy and he could not for the life of him remember anything that had happened recently. This scared him more than anything.

_I must have hit my head… _he thought. It would certainly explain why his head was throbbing. He tried in vain to recall something, anything that would explain what was going on. But the most recent memory seemed to have happened forever ago. It was certainly not helping him any.

A cough echoed from across the hall, startling him from his stupor and causing him to leap off the wall with a small yelp. Catching his breath, he realized the cough came from the cell directly across from his own. He wondered why he hadn't even considered the possibility that he wasn't alone.

Moving up towards the cell door, he peered through the bars and the gloom into the cell across. There definitely was someone in there, though Brad couldn't make out any features other than an obviously masculine figure. The man appeared to be singing softly to himself, sitting in the corner of his cell on a pile of rags Brad could only assume was a bed. Looking behind him, he realized his cell was lacking any sort of bedding.

Deciding that he wasn't quite ready to strike up a conversation with his seemingly insane cell block mate, Brad turned and sat down against his wall again. He decided he might as well think of his most recent memory, go from there.

He had gone to school, just like any other day. And he had made plans for after school, again just like any other day. Who were they with? Brad could not remember worth anything. He had decided it had been a Friday, since he couldn't recall going anywhere for lunch. Fridays at his school were half-days. What were his plans? He vaguely recalled being nervous about them. Meaning they were to do something he really shouldn't have been doing, for getting caught would result in being grounded the rest of his high school days.

Brad didn't know how long he'd been sitting there lost in thought, though when he finally 'woke up,' he realized he was being watched. The man across the hall had walked up to the bars of his cell, and was gazing at Brad. He was standing in such a way that the light from his own cell cast a shadow over his face, and the light in Brad's simply could not reach him. Again, Brad could not make out any features. Coming to the conclusion that no harm could come from interrogating the strange man, Brad walked up to his own cell bars.

"Well?" said Brad, deciding that the tough guy act might be efficient in dealing with his fellow prisoner. "Are you just gonna stare at me all day, or are you going to say something?"

The man cocked his head to the side, as if trying to decide something.

"What are you?" he finally spoke. His voice was raspy, with a sort of fingernails-on-chalkboard quality to it. Brad found himself shuddering a bit at the sound.

"Excuse me?" Brad asked a little confused.

"You're certainly not elven." the man with the irritating voice said with contempt. "Too small for a Nord. Not dark enough for a Redguard. Sure as hell not Argonian. Or a Khajiit or Orc, for that matter. Breton is a possibility, though you may be too tall. But my guess is an Imperial, though there's something about that that just doesn't quite fit either. So again, I ask, what are you?"

"Okay," Brad responded, both irritated and utterly bemused. "Pretend for one second that I have absolutely no idea what the hell you are talking about."

The man gave a small laugh, which to Brad sounded more like a dry heave than anything.

"It doesn't matter." the man finally said. "No matter what race you really are, or where you came from, you're still stuck in here. In this smelly, dark, rat-infested little hole. Oh yes, you are in here forever. You're going to die in here, boy. You hear me? Die!"

"Whatever." Brad said, trying not to show that what the man said had in fact caused his heart to race. Was he really going to die in here? Die without knowing where he was? No way. Brad simply would not allow it. He decided to question the man some more. "Who are you? For someone that acts all high and mighty, you sure like to cower in the shadows. Why don't you show yourself?"

The man laughed again. Slowly, he turned his body so that the light behind cast a glow in front of him. Brad gasped and involuntarily took a step back, not willing to believe what he saw.

He had gray hair, and red eyes. His hairline was receding, pronouncing his already large forehead even more. He had ears like a, well, an _elf_. But it was the skin that shocked Brad. It was almost purplish. Brad really could not think of any other way to describe it, other than the man looked like he'd been holding his breath since he was born. Brad found it almost disgusting, like the man was diseased.

"What in God's name are you?" Brad choked out, his tough guy act completely dropped and replaced with one of genuine fear.

"What?" said the creature, "Never seen a Dunmer before? Or perhaps you know my race as that of the Dark Elves? No matter. I'll be out of here before long, while you'll still be rotting away."

With that, the Dunmer turned away and sat back in his corner, singing to himself and drawing pictures in the dust. Brad, still recovering from his initial shock, stumbled his way back to his spot against the wall and collapsed on the floor. He was at a complete loss of what to think.

_Where the hell am I?_ he thought silently. _There's no way I'm in the United States. Africa maybe? All kinds of weird stuff goes on there. Judging from this cell, I'm guessing some third-world country. Question is: how the hell did I get here?_

Brad resumed his process of trying to recall his most recent memory. Who had he made plans with? What were they? For some reason, figuring this out seemed extremely important to him. Maybe simply because it provided some comfort, thinking of his life before he had woken up in a cell with some purple freak across the hall.

Brad was awoken from his reverie by the sound of heavy footsteps in the hall. The sound of clanking metal resonated as well. Brad immediately jumped to his feet, wondering what was going on now. He wearily watched the hall, and heard voices.

"It is true then?" said a deep voice, with a certain quality Brad found soothing. "My sons are all dead?"

"I'm afraid so, sire." this time the voice came from a woman.

"Hurry, my liege." yet another voice, this one belonging to another man. "There is no time."

"Of course." the first voice again.

Suddenly, the cell door swung open with a loud clang and before Brad could even think of reacting, his tiny cell was crammed full of people. Three of them were wearing shiny, silver armor, with long swords sheathed at their sides. The other was an elderly man, dressed in fine robes. Brad didn't even have to think about it, he just knew that the man was some sort of royalty, and the others were his guards. He just had no idea what kind of royalty. All four seemed quite startled to see Brad standing there, in his potato-sack clothes, looking as shocked as they were.

"Who are you?!" the woman asked accusingly. "This cell is supposed to remain empty at all times!"

"Relax, Renault." one of the guards said before Brad could respond. "It's no concern of ours. We have to keep moving."

"Right." the woman called Renault agreed. She looked at Brad. "Prisoner! Stand back! We won't hesitate to you kill you if you get in our way."

Brad was still too stunned. A thousand thoughts were running through his head at once. Naturally, the most prominent was: _What the HELL is going on?_ Without quite thinking, he took a few steps back and tried to flatten himself against the wall. Eyeing the open cell door beside the guards, he dimly thought that he might be able to make a break for it. Renault saw him watching the exit, and promptly slammed it shut. As she moved to do this, the old man in the regal robes got a clear view of Brad, and gasped.

"It's you…" he trailed off in his voice full of wisdom. Brad was dumbfounded. And from the looks of the guards, they were just as confused as Brad.

"Erm…" Brad stuttered, finding his courage. "Me? What about me? And…uh….who exactly are you?"

"I am Emperor Uriel Septim VII, ruler of Tamriel." the regal man stated. "And you…I've seen your face. In my dreams. And my nightmares. These are my Blades, my royal bodyguards. They are Renault, Baurus and Glenroy. What is your name, young man?"

"Erm…Bradyn. Torrez." Brad stammered, still utterly lost.

"And from where do you hail?" asked the Emperor.

"Arizona. The U.S."

"Not from these lands than. Quite possibly not from this world."

"My liege, we must go!" the one called Baurus interrupted before Brad could speak. "Time is not on our side."

"You are right. Let's go." the Emperor said calmly.

With that, Baurus fiddled with something on the wall Brad couldn't see, and the wall slid down and out of sight, revealing a dark and cold tunnel. Renault took point, followed by the Emperor, with Glenroy covering the rear. Baurus turned to look at Brad.

"Guess today is just your lucky day, prisoner." he said. And with that he too had vanished into the tunnel.

Faced with no other alternatives, Brad braced himself and headed towards the dark tunnel as well. Glancing at the Dark Elf, who apparently had remained oblivious to the entire thing, he took a deep breath and stepped into the dark. Feeling for the walls, he kept his hand on the cold, slimy side of the tunnel and began to make his way forward.

The Emperor and his entourage were already a ways up ahead, and as Brad's eyes adjusted to the dark he could vaguely make out their shapes moving swiftly in the dark. He briefly wondered how they could move so easily in this darkness. He broke into a bit of a run, keeping one hand on the side at all times. There was no way he was gonna let them get out of his sight and leave all alone. As he drew closer, he could hear them talking softly.

"-bother to bring a torch?" Glenroy was saying.

"So that we shine like a beacon for the assassins?" Renault countered. "Night-Eye is a beautiful thing, Glenroy."

"You know I've never been good with Magicka." Glenroy whispered. "Or those who practice it."

"Hush!" Baurus muttered. The party stopped. Brad stopped too, not wanting to get in their way. He never doubted Renault's threat.

The group moved slowly forward, and Brad soon came to realize that the tunnel had widened into a chamber. An unidentifiable blue light illuminated the room slightly, bringing a welcome reprieve from the suffocating darkness. The Emperor hung back a bit with Baurus as Renault and Glenroy moved cautiously forward, their hands on the hilt of their blades. Brad slunk into the shadows, hoping to remain undetected. He couldn't help but think that the Blades wouldn't be too happy to see him. The Emperor, however, turned and looked directly at him, and Brad realized they knew he was behind them all along.

Without warning, a loud cry echoed through the chamber, as three hooded figures in blood-red robes darted out from nowhere. In unison they raised their arms, and a green smoke seemed to flow over them and they were instantly covered in dark, spiky armor. Brad couldn't help but notice how demonic the armor looked. The three assassins were also now equipped with deadly and equally demonic-looking daggers. All this happened in a split-second.

"Protect the Emperor!!" Baurus shouted as he, Renault and Glenroy darted forward to meet the newcomers. Brad tried to desperately to stay calm and hidden in the shadows, knowing that he simply stood no chance if he engaged in combat with the assassins. His meager 3 years of martial arts was nothing against these fully-armored and most likely well-trained fighters.

The Emperor drew his own sword, and fell back against a column, prepared to take on anything that came at him. Brad watched from the shadows as the Blades engaged in deadly combat with assassins. Their skill was incredible, dodging here, thrusting there, sidestepping, blocking, and trying to find a weak point in the assassin's armor. The assassins were equally matched in skill, however, though flashes of blinding light and flame were seen coming from them. They had all moved on to the lower ledge of the chamber, leaving Brad and the Emperor above.

Renault was dueling with one assassin, while Baurus and Glenroy took on another. Brad assumed the third had been slaughtered, but came to the realization that he had simply disappeared. The Emperor realized this too, and as he looked around in alarm, Brad saw a slight shimmer in the air next to him. With horror, he immediately realized what was about to happen and darted forward.

As the assassin's chameleon spell wore off, he raised his blade and was just about to plunge it deep into the Emperor's back. Without thinking, Brad slammed all his weight into the armor-clad assassin, causing him to stumble and trip. They fell in a tangled mess, Brad trying desperately to get away as the man lay stunned. In one swift movement, the Emperor pulled at his summoned cuirass and plunged his sword deep into the small opening it made. The assassin gave one last cry and died, his armor swiftly vanishing leaving him dead in his pool of blood.

Brad immediately turned to the other fighter, and was stunned as one of the assassins threw a bolt of lightning at Renault, causing her to twitch violently as the electricity sizzled threw her. Without hesitation the assassin had plunged his dagger deep into her throat and pulled it out again. Renault emitted a deep death-rattle as she collapsed face first on the ground, her flood flowing in a huge pool.

Baurus yelled in anger and kicked the assassin against the wall, swinging his sword and decapitating him completely. Glenroy quickly dispatched the remaining assassin, leaving his body a crumpled mess on the floor. The two remaining Blades were immediately at their fallen comrade's side, gently lifting her out of her own blood. Baurus produced a cloth from the small knapsack at his side, and wiped her face clean. The Emperor was also at her side, and he tenderly touched her neck. White light flowed from his finger tips and into the wound, sealing it closed.

Brad remained where he was, squatting next to the body of the assassin he helped kill. He looked down at the three, and could only feel great respect towards them as they tenderly restored Renault to her former dignity, allowing her to look strong even in death. They bowed their heads as the Emperor muttered a few incoherent words.

Despite this tender moment, Brad remained terrified. He had never before seen someone kill another person, or be killed. He was by no means squeamish, so the sight of blood didn't bother him. It was how the blood came to be everywhere that got him worked up. He simply couldn't believe this was happening. How did he go from his apparently sheltered existence to this place of death? He remembered what the Emperor had said earlier, and came to believe that he must be right. He simply was not in his own world anymore.

The Emperor was suddenly beside him, his hand on Brad's shoulder for comfort. Brad subconsciously thought of how he normally would have shrugged off this strange man's hand, but he suddenly felt so exhausted and alone that the small gesture was welcome. As he straightened himself up, he winced as his arm throbbed with a sharp pain. He looked in wonder when he saw the deep puncture in his right bicep, bleeding profusely. He dimly realized that he must have punctured it on the dead assassin's sharp conjured armor. He tried flexing it, but the pain was so great he gasped aloud.

"Probably tore through the muscle." Baurus said softly. Brad hadn't realized that he was standing there too. The Emperor gently held Brad's arm, and the white light again slowly flowed from his fingertips into Brad's bicep. Again the wound mended itself and closed, leaving a bruise in its place. The sharp, unbearable pain was replaced with a dull, persistent throb.

"Not the best job." the Emperor murmured. "But Renault was the only one of us with any real skill in Magicka."

"You can use magic then?" Brad asked with a hint of awe in his voice. "Magic exists in this world, apparently."

"Magicka." the Emperor corrected. "And everyone can use it with the proper training. Some more efficient than others, obviously. You could use it too I'm sure."

"Right." Brad said with a hint of sarcasm and disbelief in his voice.

"We can't stay here." Glenroy said after a moment, and Brad turned to see that he and Baurus were standing by the exit out of the chamber. "Your Excellency, we must keep moving."

The Emperor gave Brad one last look over before turning and following. The three bowed their heads over Renault's body one last time and turned to enter the next tunnel. Brad was promptly behind them. He was definitely not staying alone. But Baurus immediately closed the gate behind him and locked it. Brad was stuck on the other side.

"What are you doing?" Brad asked in anger.

"You are not a Blade." Baurus responded. "You are defenseless. It will be much safer for you to remain here then to come with us. And frankly, I'm not sure I trust someone who was locked in a prison cell, even if they are not of this world."

And with that, the Emperor and his Blades disappeared in the dark, leaving Brad standing alone with the dead bodies. What was he to do now? The gate would not open, and was too sturdy to be broken down. He paced angrily, trying to think of something that would help. There was no way he was going back to that cramped little cell.

As he was pacing, a loud crash jerked him out of thought and startled him into a defensive stance. Two huge rats had burst out from a crumbled section of the wall. They were three times as big as normal sewer rats, and came loping towards Brad.

Brad moved aside, thinking the rodents would ignore him, but they turned and lunged at him. He deftly knocked one aside with his hand, but the other attached itself to his stomach with its mouth. Brad yelped in pain and anger, and grabbed the vermin by its neck and flung it at the wall, killing it. The first rat again jumped at him, but Brad bashed it in the head with his fist, cracking its skull and killing it instantly.

Shocked and out of breath, Brad realized that he was sure as hell not gonna get out of this place without more bloodshed. Bracing himself, he entered through the small hole the rats had created. He found himself in a cave, dark save for a green light emitted from some phosphorescent plants. The air was damp and cold, with a strong scent of mildew and rot. He couldn't make out much of his surroundings, and blindly groped around, silently cursing himself for not taking the torch off the wall in his cell.

As he fumbled in the dark, he heard a distinct cry from somewhere in the cave. He paused, holding his breath as the unmistakable sound of footsteps drew closer. Without warning, Brad had to shield his eyes as whatever was drawing nearer lit a torch. His surroundings were immediately lit up, and after blinking Brad saw what was holding the torch.

It was short and green. Skeletal almost. It had a huge, bald head with equally big ears. Its teeth were razor sharp, and its squinty little eyes bloodshot. Brad barely had time to react before it attempted to bash the side of his head in with the flaming torch. Nimbly dodging back, Brad retaliated with a swift roundhouse kick to the side of the creature's head. The creature stumbled back, dazed, and Brad took this opportunity to deliver a well-placed punch to the its face, shattering its nose and dazing it even more.

Brad had never been in a hand-to-hand combat before, and was surprised at how well he seemed to be doing. He had no intention of killing the creature, however, as it seemed vaguely intelligent. The same couldn't be said for the little beast, as the creature quickly recovered and unsheathed a silver dagger, jabbing it swiftly at Brad. Brad dodged from side to side, bobbing and weaving to avoid the sharp edge of the blade. The adrenaline was in his system at full blast, allowing him to focus like he'd never focused before.

The creature jabbed the dagger at his head. Brad stepped aside, and grabbed the its skinny arm and twisted it with all his might. The wrist broke, and the dagger fell to the floor. Brad immediately grabbed it, and in one quick movement turned and plunged it into the side of the creature's head. The creature was dead before it hit the floor.

Stunned and amazed by his first real kill, Brad gazed down at the lifeless body. Feeling a bit nauseous, he looked away and shut his eyes, trying to settle his mind. After a minute of deep breathing, he grabbed the dead creature's still flaming torch and raised it high, illuminating the whole of the cave. He noticed a large chest on the floor, an old out-of-place well, and a skeleton in the corner. The only exit he could see was further back.

He made his way over to the chest. Opening it, he found an old pair of leather boots and some leather chest armor. There was also a small sack containing thirty pieces of gold, which Brad eagerly took out. While he wasn't sure who the stuff in the chest belonged too, he decided that his situation was worse and he could take what he wanted. He decided to don the leather boots and cuirass, since he figured that some sort of protection would be a good thing. Peeling off his blood-soaked sandals, he slid his feet into the boots that were a surprisingly good fit. He just wished he had some socks to protect his feet from the inevitable blistering the rough leather would cause.

He pulled the leather cuirass over his potato-sack shirt. He felt somewhat better with the armor, and a hell of a lot warmer. Tying the sack of gold tightly under his shirt in a spot it wouldn't be noticed but would be easy for him to get to, he moved towards the skeleton. The first thing he saw was the compact rucksack on the ground next to the body. Eagerly taking it, he opened it to find it was capable of holding much more than he'd expected.

Inside the sack was a heavy piece of iron armor. An iron cuirass, to be exact. Brad pulled it out and examined it. It was rusty, but still looked to be in decent condition. There was no way he was going to wear it, however. He was a runner, and a swimmer. He valued his speed above anything else, and was not going to sacrifice it for a bit of extra protection. The heavy armor would only slow him down.

He did leave it in the rucksack, however, figuring he should keep what he could just in case. There was some old, rotted meat and fruit in the bag as well. Brad promptly dumped them out. Swinging the bag over his shoulder, he noticed the skeleton was holding a long steel sword and a leather shield. Grateful for something other than his fists, he took the sword and the shield. He also took the sheath that was loosely attached to the skeleton's side, and attached it to his own. With his new sword sheathed, the shield in his sack and the torch in his hand, he made his way out of the cave and further on.

The going was long, and cold. Occasionally he would cross the path of more huge, hungry rats. A swift kick or punch was all that was needed to take care of them. Eventually he entered a wide cavern, with a big fire roasting a rat in the center. The warmth was welcome, but the creatures around it weren't. They were the same monsters as the one Brad killed earlier. Brad snuffed out his torch, and crept silently behind the nearest one. As quietly as he could, he unsheathed the sword, and plunged it straight through the creature's heart.

It collapsed instantly, unnoticed by its peers. Brad moved towards the next, but stumbled slightly, alerting the others to his presence. He immediately stood, withdrew his shield, and engaged in deadly combat. He had no skill at all with a sword, but it was obvious what he was supposed to do with it. He dodged nimbly, thankful that he had chosen to wear the lighter armor. The beasties did get a few hits in, tearing the leather and leaving a gash in his leg. It was only a matter of minutes before the three creatures were slain and Brad was tying a strip of cloth around his wound, trying to stem the bleeding. He vaguely wished he had learned some Magicka from the Emperor.

Relighting his torch, he explored the rest of the cavern, taking whatever he though might be useful. There were a few chests, and most contained gold, jewels, and other random objects like hourglasses or gardening tools. Brad took what he could, and the rucksack never seemed to run out of room, though it did get increasingly heavier. By the time he was ready to leave the cavern, he had a nice assortment of weapons, jewels, clothing and gold.

Brad continued on. He walked for what seemed an eternity, with the constant fear and realization that he was never going to get out. He took what he could. He slaughtered whatever stood in his way, which were mainly rats with a few of those creatures scattered about. At one point, what he had mistaken for a simple rotting corpse got up and attacked him, giving him such a fright he nearly fell on his own sword. It was killed easily, as its rotting flesh and crumbling bones couldn't stand up to much punishment. It wasn't easygoing, and Brad was soon bruised, bloodied and exhausted.

After what seemed hours, the greenish light of the caves changed back into the bluish light of the chambers where he'd last seen the Emperor. He walked cautiously forward, hearing voices from somewhere nearby. He soon realized that he was on a balcony type structure, and directly below him were in fact the Emperor and his companions. They all seemed battle-worn, exhausted, and were covered in blood. Brad knew they were having just as hard a time surviving as he was.

There was a scream, and three hooded figures appeared out of the shadows, casting their spells and soon clad in armor again. The Emperor and the two Blades attacked without hesitation. Baurus and Glenroy skillfully fended the assassins with their blades, while the Emperor resorted more towards spell-casting, throwing fire at the assassins and casting spells that caused weird effects on the attackers. Brad ran towards the edge, and braced himself to jump down.

Before he hit the ground, the assassins were dispatched. Brad crumpled as he hit the ground, and as he pulled himself up he felt a cold blade press against his throat.

"Prisoner!" Baurus shouted in outrage, holding his blade steady against Brad. "I told you not to follow us! How did you get here?"

"Wait!" Brad said, equally outraged. "What the hell are you doing? I'm on your side!"

"How do we know you are not an assassin?" Baurus asked accusingly.

"Let the boy be." the Emperor said calmly. "He is of no harm to us."

Baurus reluctantly withdrew. Brad sheathed his own sword, and turned to the Emperor, who seemed ghost-like in the torchlight.

"Are you finally going to tell me what's going on?" Brad asked, still angry. "Why these people keep attacking you, and why I'm in this world?"

"The assassins killed my sons." Uriel Septim said softly. "They killed the last of my kin, and will try to kill me. If they succeed, the Dragonfires will die out and the realm will not be safe. As for you, I do not know how you came to be in this world. All I know is that your destiny is intertwined with the safety of this land."

"And I suppose your dreams told you this?" Brad replied bitterly. He didn't understand what the Emperor was talking about, and at this point he didn't care. He just wanted to go home. And when he asked the old man how to do that, Septim merely tilted his head.

"What is your birthsign, young Bradyn?" he asked after a bit.

"Uh…well I'm an Aquarius…" Brad asked bemused. "And in the year of the goat.."

"Hmmm…" Septim tilted his head again. "You obviously have different methods than we do. If I had to guess, I would say you were born under the Thief."

"I am no thief." Brad said defensively.

"No, no." the old man said dismissively. "It merely affects your abilities, not what you use them for. Baurus, Bradyn will accompany us the rest of the way."

"Yes, my liege." Baurus responded, not willing to argue with a man as wise and powerful as Uriel Septim. "Young man, you may as well make yourself useful. The assassins know we're here, so there's no use in trying to hide. Hold that torch high, and light the way for the Emperor."

Brad did just that. They had hardly entered the next chamber when more battle cries were heard and a seemingly infinite number of hooded figures appeared. Baurus none too gently shoved both the Emperor and Brad into a little side room.

"Guard him with your life!" Baurus shouted at Brad. Brad unsheathed his sword and backed the Emperor into a corner so that nothing could sneak up on them. Through the low doorway and dim light, they could barely see the chaos that ensued.

"Bradyn Torrez." Uriel Septim said somberly. Brad turned to look at him. "The time has come for us to part ways. I will not survive this, I foreseen it. It is up to you to protect the realm."

"What?!" Brad said astonished. "You're not going to die here!"

"Brave words, young Bradyn." Septim said. "But I have seen this, and what I see always comes to pass. Here, take this. It is the Amulet of Kings. With it, the last of the Septim line can relight the Dragonfires and close shut the jaws of Oblivion."

"Last of the line?" Brad asked, thoroughly confused, though nonetheless taking the heavy yet weightless necklace. "You said all your descendents had been killed?"

"There is but one." the old man replied. "My illegitimate son, unaware of his heritage. I know not where he is. Jauffre will though. Travel to Weynon Priory outside of Chorrol. Jauffre is there. Give him the Amulet. He will know what to do."

"But…sir!" Brad tried to protest. The old man's will was strong.

"Go now, young Bradyn. And may the Nine Divines guide you." With that, an assassin darted out of the shadows, knocking Brad aside and plunging his conjured dagger deep into the Emperor's heart. Uriel Septim VII, Emperor of Tamriel, collapsed in a heap on the floor, killed instantly.

Brad cried with rage and launched himself at the murderer. His sword had been knocked aside, and he fought will all his might, using every ounce of his strength and martial arts training to try and kill the killer. With a flurry of kicks, punches, sweeps, grabs and throws, Brad fought like he had never fought before. The conjured armor bloodied his knuckles, tore at his flesh and ripped his leather. But the assassin was unable to fight back, for as soon as he regained himself another blow would knock him back.

Brad soon grew exhausted. He had definitely injured the assassin, but before long he would be to weak and the man would murder him like he had the Emperor. Just as it seemed he could fight no more, Baurus flew in, and in one swift move had driven his blade straight through the assassin, slicing through the weakened armor like it was butter.

Baurus immediately collapsed next to the fallen Emperor, and without a noise began to clean him up as he did to Renault. Brad leaned against the wall, catching his breath and looking in horror at the sight. Not able to watch much longer, Brad sheathed his sword and made his into the main chamber. Bodies littered the area, mostly clad in blood-red robes, though one body was different. Brad felt a strong pang of grief as he looked upon the crumpled corpse of Glenroy. Without thinking, he knelt by the body and shuffled inside his knapsack until he found an old shirt. Ripping a strip from it, he gently wiped Glenroy's face clean and laid him to rest.

As he stood up, a wave of pain and exhaustion overcame him. He was bruised and bloody, his leather armor basically torn to shreds and his body aching in so many places it was almost numb. He wavered on the spot, and would've collapsed if not for the strong hand that grabbed his shoulder and held him upright. Baurus had emerged.

"Where is the amulet?" he asked slowly, angrily.

"He gave it to me." Brad said, holding it up. "He wants me to bring it to Jauffre, at Weynon Priory. Wherever that is. He said there's another heir, an illegitimate one. Jauffre would know what to do, apparently."

"Really now?" Baurus asked, releasing his tight grip. "Well, I don't know why the Emperor trusted you, but he obviously did. And if he did, I do to. By the way, what class are you?"

"Class?" Brad asked, too tired to really be confused. And tired of being confused.

"From the way you were fighting," Baurus continued. "I would say you've been training to be a Monk. Maybe you even are a Monk."

"Monk? No…" Brad slowly realized what he meant. "Nothing like that. I did a few years of Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido. Martial arts."

"Oh." Baurus said. "So you are a Martial Artist. Impressive. Unusual. At any rate, you need to get going then. Here, this key will open that gate over there, leading to the sewers. From there you can get to the surface. Take these as well."

Baurus handed Brad a rolled up map, and a compass on a chain. The map seemed to be of a place called Cyrodiil, which Brad could only guess was the land he was in. He soon found Chorrol, and below it a little place marked Weynon Priory. He stowed the map in his bag and hung the compass around his neck. Baurus urged him to get going.

"Wait!" Brad replied, an idea springing to mind. "Do you know Magicka? I'm in a lot of pain right now, and if you could heal my cuts or teach me how to use it, I would be really grateful."

"I'm sorry." Baurus said, shaking his head. "I've never been to keen on learning Magicka. Someone in the city will gladly teach you, especially someone from the Mages Guild, if you're interested. Not without a fee of course."

"One more thing." Baurus said. He proceeded to search through the various bodies of the assassins. After a few minutes, he produced a few bottles with some silver liquid inside. "These potions will restore your wounds. They aren't as potent as a spell, but they get the job done. And these ones here will restore your energy. I know you must be exhausted."

Brad hesitated for a bit before he downed one of the potions. Immediately, he felt his pain subside as his wounds mended themselves. He drank another for good measure, fully restoring his health, save for the inevitable dull ache of blood loss. He downed the other type, and felt a rush of energy fill his body.

_Talk about adrenaline rush. _he thought grimly to himself, and put the rest of the potions into his bag.

"Good luck Bradyn Torrez, the Martial Artist." Baurus said as he held out his hand. Brad slowly shook it, and smiled grimly at the man. Looking at the Emperor's body, now made peaceful by Baurus, he turned and headed towards the gate to the sewers.

The sewers were dark and stank horribly, but Brad pushed on. The promise of the surface and fresh air made his very soul yearn for it. He encountered little resistance in the sewer, a few rats and a green-creature or two. After what seemed another hour, he found himself in a tunnel that didn't smell so bad. The further down he got, the more he realized that at the end of the tunnel was a gate with what was unmistakably sunlight shining through.

Taking a deep breath, he prepared his mind and body for what was undoubtedly going to be a long, difficult journey. With a slow smile, Bradyn opened the gate, and took the last few steps into the sunshine.

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**A/N: And there you have it. I chose to make Brad come from our world and not Tamriel in order to create the same sense of awe, wonder and terror in him that I felt the first time I played through Oblivion. Reviews are welcome, naturally, and constructive criticism as well. Key word: Constructive. There's something about my writing style I don't like but it has been a few years.**


	2. Unfriendly Competition

**Disclaimer: I don't own Oblivion and/or any related characters/items. **

Authors Note: Happy New Years! Its been almost two weeks, but here is chapter two. And to answer some of the reviewers questions, I plan on Brad experiencing everything that Oblivion has to offer. Does that answer it?  
**I realize this chapter is really long, but it's what I do. So expect EVERY chapter to be long. It's one of my greatest pet-peeves on when someone submits a 700-word text and calls it a chapter. Seriously. Anyway, enjoy!  
****  
PS: I haven't really gone through and edited everything yet, so expect some errors. I'll get to it when I have time.

* * *

**

The sunlight was blinding. After the extreme darkness of the sewers, Brad found himself blinking rapidly and shielding his eyes from the light. After a few minutes of squinting and blinking, his eyes finally adjusted enough for him to be able to make out his surroundings. Brad couldn't help but gasp at the sight.

He was by a large lake. The water was clear and blue, and the late afternoon sun was just beginning to create its golden, sparkly reflection on the surface. In the middle of the lake directly opposite Brad was a little island. On the island stood some ancient, crumbling structures. They seemed to be made of a pure white brick, as the sunlight caused them to almost glow. Brad could only gaze in awe at what he knew was the magnificent remains of some long-past civilization.

In front of Brad was a dock that extended a few yards into the lake. A few rotted boxes were piled on one corner of the dock. Floating in the water next to it was an old, rotted boat that didn't look like it could take much weight. Rocks and boulders lined the shore near Brad. Directly behind him, above the exit from the sewers, the terrain sloped up at a steep angle. Huge moss-covered boulders were planted in the slope, and a few trees were scattered amongst them.

But what caught Brad's eye was the towering fortress that loomed above the treetops. From what Brad could tell, the structure was in the shape of a circle and the walls were thick and gray. Further beyond that was another circular fortress, this one thirty times bigger than the first. Rising from the center and high into the sky was a long tower that glinted in the sunlight.

Brad immediately pulled out the map Baurus gave him and tried to figure out where he was. He scanned the terrain around him, and tried to find it on the map. He soon determined he was on the island in the _Lake Rumare_, and the huge fortress like structure behind him was the Imperial City. Since there was water to the east, north and west of him, he figured he was in the northeastern most corner of the island.

Putting the map away, he gazed out into the water. The sun was slowly beginning its descent in the sky, and Brad figured there was roughly an hour and a half of daylight left. Still gazing at the sparkling lake, a torrent of thoughts and emotions began rushing through him. He didn't even know what most of them were, as he was still too dazed to understand any of them. He quickly pushed them in the back of his mind, and without hesitation he sprinted down the dock, tearing off his shredded leather armor and potato-sack clothing. Fully naked, he dove headfirst into the cool, crisp water.

Surfacing, he instantly relaxed. He was in his element. The coolness of the water and the weightlessness of his body instantly eased his very soul. He'd been a swimmer for as long as he could remember, and it was one of his greatest passions. Floating now in this strange lake in this world full of murderers, monsters and magic, Brad couldn't help but think back to the countless summer days spend lounging in a pool with a few friends.

He found himself getting choked up, and immediately shook himself out of his reverie. Now was not the time to let his emotions get the better of him. There were things to do, and as Brad knew he had little time left before he'd be outside in the dark.

_First things first, I suppose. _he thought to himself. _Got to find somewhere to sleep._

With that, Brad slowly drifted back towards the shore. Grudgingly trudging onto the shore, he grabbed his things off the dock and pulled on his potato sack clothes and leather boots. Shouldering his knapsack, he headed towards the towering fortress like city. The hike was fairly simple, requiring some scrambling over a few boulders and whatnot, but it was nothing Brad wasn't used to. After only twenty minutes he'd reached the great big doors leading into the city.

It took Brad a moment to get the door open. It was a lot heavier than he was expecting. He pulled it open and slipped inside. He found himself on a paved street that branched to left and the right as well as forwards. There were tall buildings ahead and around him. A few people were milling about further up, finishing their errands and catching up on all the gossip before the day was through. There were two men standing on either side of him, dressed in a full suit of armor with large blades strapped to their waists. Brad knew instantly they were guards.

"Evening, stranger." the one on Brad's left said. "Never seen you around here before."

"From where do you hail?" the right one asked suspiciously. "And what is your name?"

"I'm Bradyn Torrez." Brad replied nervously. "I…erm…_hail _from Arizona."

"Arizona?" Left-guard said. "Never heard of it."

"No," Brad replied quickly, deciding to stretch the truth. Something he'd always been good at. "You wouldn't have. It's not a part of Cyrodiil. Or…uh…Tamriel."

"From beyond the seas, are you?" Right-guard asked, still suspicious.

"Right." Brad said. "From beyond the seas."

"And what brings you to the Imperial City?" Left-guard asked.

"Well," Brad said, desperately thinking, "I really need to go to…erm…Chorrol? Yeah, Chorrol. But it's getting late, so I was going to find a place to stay for the night, and head out tomorrow."

"I see." said Left-guard, looking Brad up and down. Brad suddenly realized what a mess he must look, with his hair and clothes still partially wet, blood and dirt and grime caked onto him, and a filthy old knapsack at his side. He became quite self conscious as the guard continued, "Well the Merchants Inn is just down the street to the east. And you're probably going to need some provisions; it's about a day-long journey to Chorrol from here on foot. The Feed Bag has plenty of food, and it is also to the east."

"Are you able to defend yourself if need be?" Right-guard asked. "The land and roads are not safe anymore; there has been an increase of attacks, mostly from various bandits and marauders. Though the goblins seem to be more active as well."

"Goblins!" Brad said with realization. "That's what those green monsters were in the tunnels."

The left-guard seemed amused. "I thought that was goblin blood on you. Had a run-in with the nasty little creatures, have you? And not a scratch to show for it. You're either a well trained fighter, or a powerful healer. Goblins are vicious."

"I found some healing potions." Brad said dismissingly. "I do know some hand-to-hand combat, but it was mostly luck that I killed the goblins. I don't know how to use a sword, and I sure as hell can't use magic…erm…_Magicka_. Oh! By the way, could you gentlemen tell me what to do with this?"

He pulled out his shredded leather cuirass. The guards glanced at each other with a hint of amusement in their eyes.

"Don't you know how to repair your own armor?" Right-guard asked. "No matter. Take it to A Fighting Chance, next door to the Inn. Rohssan will repair it for you, and for a price, she might even teach you how to repair armor yourself. Of course, you could always buy some new armor, if your funds allow for it. In that case, you'd probably want to go to The Best Defense, which it to the west. You'd want to see Maro Rufus. He sells light armor, and judging by your build I'd say that's the best kind for you."

"Thank you, sir." Brad replied feeling overwhelmed.

"What were you doing in a cave full of goblins anyway?" Left-guard asked.

"Trying to find a way out." Brad said absent-mindedly. The guards chuckled lightly, obviously thinking he was being witty.

"You must be an adventurer." Right-guard said. "Or, as some people like to refer to them, a treasure-hunter. I'm not meaning any disrespect; it's an honest living in some ways. Plus, its people like you that keep the number of bandits and monsters down."

"Right." Brad said again, deciding to go with it, despite being utterly bemused.

"Well, Bradyn," Left-guard said. "We're still on duty, and I'm sure you'd like to get some rest. Have a good stay in the Imperial City, and safe travels."

Brad nodded and shook their hands. They resumed their posts on either side of the huge doors. Brad scanned his surroundings briefly. Taking a deep breath, he started to walk towards the center of the district-like area. There were a few posters lining the walls of the buildings around him. There were two that caught his eye.

The first depicted a man's face, covered by some sort of mask. Brad couldn't make out any features other than the man's lower jaw. It was clearly a wanted poster, for someone called the "Gray Fox." He was apparently some major criminal, wanted for theft, embezzlement, fraud, everything. Everything short of murder, at least.

"Cyrodiil's Mafia gang boss, eh?" Brad said softly to himself.

The second poster was more of an advertisement. It had a picture of four men bunched together in what reminded Brad of a Charlie's Angels pose as well as something he saw from some random video game or something. One man had a sword, one a bow, one an axe, and the last was obviously a mage. The top of the poster simply said: "THE ARENA."

Brad just widened his eyes and shook his head. _Not only do they have magic, monsters and Mafia-like gang bosses, _he thought to himself, _they also have an arena? Like a gladiator arena? Sure as hell ain't in Kansas anymore._

Smiling at his corniness, he continued down the street and found himself at a sort of intersection, with shops branching off to the left, right and straight ahead. It was totally dark now, and there wasn't anyone on the streets, save for the occasional guard on his route. Brad followed the earlier guard's direction and headed east, soon seeing the sign that read _The Merchant's Inn_. He headed towards it, and entered the door.

It was pretty crowded inside, and Brad soon realized it was the equivalent of a bar. The people were seated around the counter and at little tables, eating and drinking while chatting amicably. Brad could nonetheless detect a somber tone in the conversation. It didn't last long, as the inn soon turned quiet as all eyes turned on the strange man by the doorway.

"You're not from here." one man said bluntly. He was a short little man, with pointy ears very similar to the man across from Brad's cell. His skin was normal color, however, though his pronounced forehead and short stature vaguely reminded Brad of a leprechaun. He didn't feel any terror upon seeing this man, just mild curiosity and amusement as he pictured the little man sitting on a pot of gold eating Lucky Charms. Brad quietly cursed himself for his stupid sense of humor.

"No." Brad finally responded, with a hint of sarcasm. "I'm not. I'm from the land of Arizona. Beyond the seas."

There was a quiet murmur of awe as everyone gazed at the foreigner. Brad soon felt self-conscious, again realizing how horrible he must look with his filthy prisoner clothes and equally filthy skin. He held his head high though, trying to give the same impression to these people that he gave to strangers in his own world. That he was proud and arrogant.

Brad could never explain to himself why he wanted everyone to view him this way. It just seemed to make things easier for him. He liked to think people respected him for it. Maybe they thought that he had a good reason to be arrogant. And he knew he wasn't totally living a lie, because he really was pretty cocky by nature. One thing that humored him was that he absolutely could not stand people that were cocky. But on the other hand, he most despised people that were humble and insecure. So he mostly hung out with the cocky kids, who he'd actually get along with so well do to their clashing personalities.

All Brad could hope now was that these people didn't respond badly to pride. He thought briefly of _Pride and Prejudice_, and how Mr. Darcy's apparent arrogance had caused him many problems. He again cursed himself quietly, this time for letting his mind wander so.

"Arizona?" one man said. He was of the same race as Baurus. Brad would have called him African-American, but he somehow figured that word was very much nonexistent here. "I've never heard of it. And I've read many books and journals from sailors and adventures from beyond the seas."

"Naturally." said the leprechaun-man with a touch of scorn. "Considering you own a book store, Phintias, I would assume you've read all you're books. Someone has to."

"Excuse me?" the man called Phintias said in a snide tone. "What are you getting at, Thoronir? Say it then, or maybe you'd rather I forced it out?"

"There's no need to take that tone with me, Phintias." the one named Thoronir replied coldly. "And I don't respond well to threats. I don't know if you _Redguards_ were ever taught any matters in your backwater province, but it's rather poor etiquette to threaten a man anyways, simply because their business actually gets customers."

Phintias was at his feet immediately. "Watch your mouth, elf! Or maybe I'll have to show you what sort of _backwater_ manners I _was_ taught!"

Thoronir was on his feet as well, though Brad could see he seemed a little less willing than the other man. Before the two could attack each other, a loud voice rang out from behind the counter.

"Gentleman!" the owner yelled. "If you fight, I swear to Akatosh I will have the guards in here and neither of you will ever enter my business again! Now I must ask you to leave immediately."

Phintias and Thoronir glared at each other for a moment, but Thoronir quickly nodded at the owner and headed towards the door. Brad stepped aside as the fuming elf stormed out of the inn. Phintias sat back down, promptly emptying a whole bottle of alcohol in one drink. The owner stared at him expectantly, than after a minute shook his head and went back to his business.

Despite the interruption, Brad was not forgotten. Everyone except Phintias turned their eyes on him again, and Brad subtly bit his lip as he walked around to the front of the counter. The owner watched him with a kindly expression.

"Evening traveler," he said cheerfully. "And welcome to the Merchant's Inn. I'm Velus Hosidius, the proprietor. Sorry for that fiasco earlier, that really never happens here. This isn't a low-class tavern. Everyone's just tense. Thoronir just recently opened his own general shop, and is somehow managing to sell goods far below price, which is causing a noticeable decline in everyone else's business. And with the Emperor's sons all assassinated, and the Emperor himself missing, it's a wonder that everyone is tearing at each other's throats. These are dark times indeed, traveler."

"I've heard." Brad said, trying to hide his bewilderment. "About the Emperor and his sons, I mean. Dark times, yes. Oh, I'm Bradyn Torrez by the way."

"Well, Bradyn, nice to meet you." Velus said, shaking his hand. "But I know for a fact you didn't come to chit-chat, now did you. What can I help you with, young man?"

Brad tried to think of a way to reply without sounding too ignorant. "Uh, well, this is my first time to the Imperial City, so I'm not sure how things work around here. But the guards had said I could find a place to stay for the night here."

"Right," Velus replied. "Rooms are twenty gold coins a night. Each room comes with a bed, dresser, chest, desk, access to the washroom, and one meal."

"Okay," Brad said, relieved. He pulled out his sack of coins and counted out twenty of them. He handed them to Velus, who put them in a till and squatted down to receive the key.

"Hello young man." a woman's voice said from behind him, causing him to jump. He spun around to find himself staring straight at a woman's chest. He quickly raised his head to look at her face. She had to be at least half a foot taller than him. He immediately noticed the elfish ears and forehead.

"I am Palonirya." the elf-woman said. "I am the owner of Divine Elegance, and also the best fashion stylist you'll find in the city. At any rate, I couldn't help but noticing the state of your…_clothes_. Surely, a man of your stature and disposition should be much better dressed! Come by tomorrow, and I am sure we can find something much more becoming for you."

"Oh...uh...okay." Brad replied, not knowing what to say, or whether he should feel offended.

"Is that goblin blood on you?" a strong-looking man said from one of the tables. Brad nodded. "I thought so; it has that distinct greenish hue. And that not-so-distinct smell. Are you a treasure-hunter than?"

Brad shook his head, not willing to commit to something he knew nothing about, and came up with a lie. "No, I just had a run in with some goblins while taking shelter in a cave."

"And you survived!" the man said, surprises. "Goblins are vicious, nasty little creatures. Many unwary travelers and adventurers have been feasted upon by them. You've got some skill then."

"No, no," Brad said. "They weren't any trouble at all. In fact, I found them to be more of an annoyance than anything."

This seemed to amuse the man, though Brad was instantly thinking of the horror he'd felt when he'd first seen the creatures, and the nausea and disgust he'd felt every time he'd slay one. Velus tapped his shoulder, and he turned around.

"The key to your room, sir." he said as he handed Brad a large old-fashioned key. "Up the stairs and first door on the left. It will also open the washroom, as I am sure you will want to bathe. The washroom is just down the same hall. Now, is there anything else I can get for you? As I said, your meal is free, but perhaps you'd like some wine?"

"No, thank you." Brad said after a moment. All he wanted right now was to get clean and sleep. "I'm really, really exhausted. I'm just gonna head up now."

"Ah please," said the strong-looking man Brad spoke to earlier. "Stay and have a drink! I'd love to hear some of your stories; you seem to be quite the traveler. Besides, it's only eight in the evening! The night is still young."

"I'm sorry," Brad said, trying not to be rude. "But I really need to get some sleep. I have a very busy day tomorrow."

The man seemed satisfied enough with that excuse, shrugging mildly and turning to talk to a different patron. Velus informed Brad that he'd send food up to the room, and Brad thanked him. He headed up the stairs and through the door on the landing. He found his room, entering the first door on the left. It was smaller than the hotel rooms he was used to. It contained a table, a dresser, a single bed with green linens, a chest, and a desk around the corner. Brad dumped his knapsack on the dresser and sat on the bed.

It was extremely soft, and Brad was tempted to just lay in it right then and there. But his own stench prevented him, as well as the promise of food. He hadn't realized how famished he was. Peeling off his leather boots, he examined his bloody and blistered feet. His dip in the lake earlier had rinsed them, but they continued to bleed and tear afterwards. Brad grabbed a bottle of that silvery healing potion Baurus gave him, and tried dabbing some of it onto the open wounds. It stopped the bleeding, but didn't quite have the effect he was hoping for. He promptly chugged the rest of the bottle, feeling its silky coldness flow throughout his body. Looking at his feet, he saw that they had mended properly, leaving small bruises.

Brad then stood up, and walked barefoot out of his room towards the washroom. Inside, he was delighted to see a normal bathtub, and a seat that was obviously a toilet. Instead of a handle it had a chain. There was also a basin like a sink. Brad turned the tap on the tub, letting it fill with hot water. He relieved himself, then peeled off his potato-sack clothing again. Sinking into the warm water, his sore muscles relaxed, his mind relaxed, and his very soul seemed to relax.

A half hour later, he had scrubbed all the blood and grime off with a rough chunk of soap he found, and felt as fresh as ever. With the leftover bathwater, he soaked his potato sack clothes and tried to get the stains out. The water turned a nasty shade of blood-red and brown, but the clothes seemed still as dirty. Brad drained the tub and rung out the clothes and threw them over his shoulder. Wrapping a towel around his waist as if he was at home, he left the washroom and entered his room.

Velus had honored his word. A big slab of steak was on a plate on the table, along with a steaming potato and some grapes. There was another plate with a loaf of bread and chunk of cheese. A large pitcher of water was set on the table, along with a couple of bottles Brad knew was some form alcohol. He quickly threw his wet clothes across the chest, and was immediately at the table, scarfing the food as if he'd never eaten in his life.

He ate till he thought he would explode. At first, he had been drinking the water, but soon decided "What the hell." He wasn't sure if there were laws against underage drinking there, but he nonetheless poured himself some of the red wine and choked down its extremely bitter taste. It must have been strong stuff, because he immediately felt the familiar drunken tingle in his legs.

Clean, fed, and slightly drunk, Brad threw his towel over a chair and blew out the candles on the table and the lantern on the wall. With the room in complete darkness, he crawled into the bed and settled in.

And then it hit him. Everything he had been holding back, all the fear, disgust, confusion, sorrow, and anger hit him full force. Most of all, he finally realized that he was NOT in his own world. He didn't know how he got there or if he would ever get home. Maybe this was all a joke? Maybe he was on some dumb reality TV show, and it was all fake.

No. Not fake. All that blood, all the anguish. That was not fake. He watched the Emperor and his bodyguards die. He'd fought hand to hand with the assassin. He'd felt the pain of assassin's armor tearing his flesh, and the rat's teeth digging into his skin, and the rush of the goblin's blades as they whizzed an inch from his face. No. This was real. And he was really there. And all he could do was go with it, and hope it turned out good.

That thought did little to comfort Brad. In the darkness of the room, with the faint sound of chatter and laughter from below him, Brad did something he hadn't done in years. He cried. And his sobs fell on silence and deaf ears, till even they were silent, as the young man had finally drifted off into a restless yet deep sleep.

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Brad awoke slowly. What had happened? It was the worst dream ever. And he'd had some pretty freaky dreams. He turned over in his bed, eyes still closed. He wondered briefly what was for breakfast, and if perhaps his Dad would feel up to making pancakes. Of course, Brad could always make them if he had to, but it was just easier if Dad made them. Brad decided he'd better get out of bed to get started and reached to where his nightstand was and his cell phone would be plugged in.

He hit the ground with a loud, painful thud. Jerking awake, he saw himself in a small room with a few pieces of furniture. There was sunlight streaming through a tiny window in the corner of the room, and Brad realized with fear what a fool he was.

"Ah dammit!" Brad said angrily as he punched the dresser.

At that moment, the door opened, and a young girl entered, humming softly to herself. She immediately saw Brad, naked and exposed, and gave such a squeal of fright that Brad himself jumped a foot in the air and yelped. He quickly sat on the bed and flung the blanket over himself.

"I'm so sorry!" the girl squealed in terror, stammering. "Oh, by the Nine am I ever so sorry! I…I…I thought the room was empty…I mean I knew of course someone had rented it…but I…I thought that you'd be out already, with it being so late and…and…I'm so sorry…umm."

"It's okay!" Brad said, in fear that the girl was gonna faint from lack of breath. Brad himself was embarrassed beyond belief. "Really, it's...it's fine. Though…um…why were you coming in here?"

"I work here." the girl said, still shaking. "I clean the rooms and whatnot. It's not the best of jobs, but someone has to earn money to feed the family. And its sure not going to be my mother."

"Oh." Brad said, at a complete loss of what to say. Why was she telling him this? He realized she must have just been trying to hold a conversation to relieve the tension. He was grateful though.

"I live in the Waterfront." she said, as if that explained everything.

"Oh." Brad said again, still not knowing what to say. He'd never had problems talking to a girl before, but this was the first time a girl had walked in on him while he was completely nude and flaunting it to the world. A startlingly pretty girl too, Brad realized suddenly.

"I'm Bradyn Torrez." he said after an awkward silence. "Call me Brad."

"I'm Leala. Leala Buthane. Call me Lea." she said with a contagious smile. Brad found himself grinning back. She had long, dark brown hair. At the moment it was currently pinned up in a haphazard bun on top of her head, with a few loose strands hanging over her face. She was shorter than Brad, but around his age. She had soft facial features, with the most shocking hazel eyes Brad had ever seen. But Brad also noticed that despite her bubbly persona and perky voice, her eyes showed a deep sadness, as well as a ruthless calculating. This girl's been living a hard life, and obviously had the street smarts and capabilities to survive.

"How old are you?" she asked him.

"Seventeen."

"Oh. I just turned sixteen a couple weeks ago." she said airily. She glanced around the room and saw his knapsack. "A traveler are you? Or some sort of an adventurer?"

"Traveler sure. I'm from beyond the seas; this is my first time in Cyrodiil." Brad lied easily. "Though you aren't the first to call me an adventurer, or treasure-hunter."

"No, and I daresay it won't be the last." Lea replied. "You have the look about you. Oh how I would love to be an adventurer, get out and see the world, make a fortune selling the loot I would find. Course, I could never afford such a lifestyle, and there's no way I could abandon my siblings. No, the Waterfront will most likely forever be my home."

"Huh." Brad said, feeling slightly uncomfortable about the way Lea openly talked about her troubled homelife. Was the Waterfront like the slums of the Imperial City?

"Are you staying long in the city?" Lea asked, after another awkward silence.

"No, I need to get to Chorrol as soon as possible." Brad said quickly. "I was planning on leaving today."

"Oh, well you'd never make it before dark now." Lea said just as quickly. "It's almost noon now, and it's at least a daylight's journey. You might as well stay here today, and see the city a bit. Unless you want to risk the roads at night."

"Oh," Brad said slowly, thinking it over. "I guess it can wait, at least a day. I'm not sure what exactly I'm supposed to be weary of, but I'll trust that the roads are bad at night. Anyways, I've got stuff to do today. Shopping for supplies and whatnot."

"I see. Umm…" Lea began, sounding anxious. "If you're not too busy later, I'll be out of here in a few hours, so if you want we could get together and I could show you around."

"Sure." Brad replied, smiling. "I'd like that. What time?"

"Meet me here around four." she replied, smiling back. "Well, I'll see you later then."

"Wait!" Brad said suddenly. She turned. "Umm…this is gonna sound stupid, but I don't have a way of telling time here."

"Oh." she responded. "Go to Jensine's. I'm sure she has a cheap pocketwatch you could purchase."

With that, she was gone. Brad headed towards the washroom, relieving himself, washing his face and wetting his short hair to fix his bedhead. Back in his room, he pulled on his potato sack clothing and rough leather boots, vowing to stop at Palonirya's and buy some more comfortable clothing, and hopefully some socks. He shouldered his knapsack and headed downstairs.

After a brief conversation with Velus, who informed him where he could find Jensine's "Good as New" Merchandise, he headed outside. The streets were full of people, running their daily routines, going to and from work, or just standing in the streets gossiping. A few glanced at Brad briefly, though he soon realized they were accustomed to seeing foreigners walking through the streets. Brad had no desire to talk to any of them.

He headed next door to A Fighting Chance. Upon entering, he saw Rohssan, who the guards had told him could repair his armor. She was the same race as Baurus and that man Phintias, the latter of whom he remembered Thoronir calling a "Redguard." Rohssan was elderly, with gray hair and a wrinkled face.

"Welcome to A Fighting Chance, traveler." Rohssan said. "You must be the boy from beyond the seas. Maro was telling me about you this morning. You met him last night I believe. How may I help you?"

Brad pulled out his shredded cuirass and laid it on the counter. "The guards told me you could repair this."

"Yes," Rohssan said, examining the leather. "Easily so. Anyone that runs a weapons or armor shop can."

"They also said you can teach me how to repair armor on my own."

Rohssan looked him over. "Yes. I can, for a price."

"Well," Brad said. "How much?"

"For you? Fifty gold for the first session. The price of every session afterwards will increase by ten gold."

Brad counted out the fifty coins, and placed them on the counter. "Teach me."

Rohssan smiled as she took the gold. The next half hour Brad learned the basics. He learned how to stitch the leather together, pulling it taut. Rohssan gave him a few hammers, instructing him how to pound the leather until it was formed together perfectly. The special hammers were much more delicate than Brad expected, and he quickly shattered the first few. Rohssan than showed him how to polish, using a cloth with some sort of grease, to give the old leather a subtle shine. Brad admired his handiwork.

"Not bad," Rohssan admitted. "You catch on quickly. That was for leather armor. It is entirely different when it comes to chainmail or steel, let alone glass armor. But, those are for other sessions."

Brad thought a minute, than pulled out the iron cuirass he had found in the caves the day before. Rohssan examined it a moment, than looked up at Brad.

"Sixty gold." she said bluntly.

Brad looked into his coin pouch. While he certainly had the sixty gold, he figured that was about ALL he had. He had other things to buy, after all. He would just have to not wear metal armor till he found a way to raise some money. He hadn't even considered what would happen if he ran out of gold. He could still head to Chorrol, but then what? He doubted this guy Jauffre would give him money. He wondered if he could work at the Inn like Lea did. Something Lea had said gave him an idea.

"Rohssan! Er…ma'am." Brad stammered. He opened his rucksack and showed Rohssan the various items he had collected in the caves. "Is there anywhere I could sell these?"

Rohssan looked at him like he was an idiot. "Every shop buys as well as sells. Where do you think they get all their goods?"

"Oh." Brad said a little irritated. "I assumed they bought from some big company or something."

"Well," Rohssan said. "There are regular traders that come in, usually from the docks. But our biggest revenue is from adventurers such as yourself, who bring in wares like these. We buy them, repair them and make them look good. Then we sell 'em for more than we paid to purchase them. Get it?"

Brad nodded. Rohssan pulled out the weapons Brad had somehow managed to fit into the knapsack. He had found a few steel daggers from the goblins, and two large iron axes. Rohssan also pulled out Brad's sword, still in its torn sheath. Brad took the sword, not willing to sell it.

"Take this stuff, for example." Rohssan said, ignoring him. "I could buy this from you, if you like. For about…oh say, fifty gold?"

Brad decided to be brave. "A little cheap, I'd say. 150 gold."

Rohssan laughed. "Smart boy. But silly. One hundred."

"One twenty-five."

Rohssan stared and Brad, who held her gaze. "One hundred. Final offer. And I will take that dull old sword too, and because I like you, I throw in a brand-new steel longsword…or maybe-"

"Done!" Brad shouted, cutting her off. She smirked and turned around, opening a cupboard. Brad put his old sword on the counter with the other weapons. Rohssan turned back and handed him a shiny, sharp and new steel blade, complete with a new leather sheath, along with a pouch containing the gold. Brad strapped it to his side with a relish.

"Now, still interested in more Armorer training?" she asked.

Brad thought a moment. "Later. I have other errands to run. Thanks though, and thank you for everything. Have a good day."

Rohssan nodded, and Brad turned around and left. Back outside, he headed across the street towards Jensine's shop. Once inside, he realized that Jensine was extremely tall. At first Brad thought she must be an elf-woman like Palonirya, but soon saw she looked completely human otherwise.

"Good afternoon." she said. "I know who you are: the traveler from the seas. I was hoping you would stop by. I could use your help."

"Wait, what?" Brad said, taken aback.

"Phintias told me that you witnessed his run-in with Thoronir last night." Jensine continued. "Ever since Thoronir has opened shop, everyone else's business has declined. He sells his wares way too cheap, which naturally attracts every customer."

"Yeah," Brad said slowly. "But how does this concern me?"

"I am with the Society of Concerned Merchants." she said. "We suspect that Thoronir is getting his goods illegally. We smell foul play. What I would like you to do, since you are a stranger, is to go talk to him, and find out where he's getting his goods. If he's not willing to tell, which he most likely won't be, then you may have to do some sneaking around. You will be rewarded, naturally, and you would have the utmost respect from all the merchants."

Brad remained quiet, not sure if he should get involved. "I guess. Yeah, I'll go see if Thoronir's up to anything shady."

"Thank you very much." Jensine said happily. "Was there something you needed in the meantime?"

"A pocketwatch," Brad replied. "If you have one."

Jensine smiled. Ten minutes later, and ten gold pieces lighter, Brad was back on the street, looking at his new (and used) pocketwatch. It was a quarter after two, so he had time to kill before he was supposed to meet Lea. Not that it would be hard to do, there was still much to do in the Market District alone. So he headed to the other side of the area towards Palonirya's shop.

Inside, she was delighted to see him. She immediately went to work measuring him, and within five minutes was already pulling out various styles of clothing for him to try on. Brad had never been one for clothes shopping, and was getting increasingly irritated. He finally settled on a pair of light brown, almost khaki colored linen pants, and a simple black short sleeved shirt. He was pleased to discover that she did in fact sell socks, and bought the comfiest pair he could find. She also managed to convince him into buying a pair of sturdy leather shoes. He put on all his new clothing and examined himself in one of Palonirya's many mirrors. He had to admit, he looked pretty good.

He left Palonirya's, amazed at how low the cost of clothing was here. Only thirty gold for everything he had bought. Seeing that it was only about three o' clock, Brad decided he might as well pay Thoronir a visit. Heading down the street, he saw The Copious Coinpurse to the north, and entered. It was a small shop, and looked the same as Jensine's, with a counter and various goods displayed around. He immediately recognized the leprechaun man from the night before. Thoronir seemed taken aback at seeing Brad, but soon regained his composure.

"Welcome to the Copious Coinpurse." he said, though Brad still detected a hint of anxiety. "I recognize you from last night at the Inn. It's good to see that you cleaned up a bit, that goblin blood smelled something awful."

"Yes, I feel much better too." Brad said. As he spoke, he noticed the little man was casually, yet obviously, covering a spot in a ledger with his hand. "You seem surprised to see me."

"Well," Thoronir said slowly. "I'd figured after what you witnessed last night, you thought poorly of me."

"Not at all." Brad said half-truthfully. In reality, he hadn't given much thought to what he'd witnessed. "It was a little unfair of Phintias to jump at you like that. It's not your problem if customers prefer your shop."

"Exactly!" Thoronir said, obviously pleased someone agreed with him. "I admit my prices are lower than most, but that's what keeps the customers coming. And when you have a good business, you can afford to lower the prices a bit."

"So you're making a good profit then?" Brad asked.

"Yes." Thoronir replied, nodding. "My main supplier is quite reliable too."

"Is he an adventurer then?" Brad asked as casually as he could.

"No…" Thoronir said hesitantly. "Well, yes, I guess you could say that…"

Knowing that Thoronir wasn't telling the whole truth, Brad changed the subject. "Well, you seem to have a nice inventory. I was wondering, though, what sort of weapons you might sell. I would go see Rohssan, but her prices are a bit out of my range."

Thoronir smiled, pleased that someone was so interested. He turned around rummaged through a cupboard. Brad quickly leaned forward and stole a glance at the ledger.

_"Garden tonight." _was all it said.

He stood up right as Thoronir turned back around. He placed a few items on the counter, an iron shortsword and a couple of steel daggers. Brad noticed that the daggers were in much better condition, and was almost tempted to buy one. He decided against it, feeling it would be a bit two-faced, and politely declined. Thoronir merely shrugged and put them back.

Brad decided there wasn't anything else he was gonna get out of Thoronir. He excused himself, and headed back out into the street. Checking his pocketwatch, he saw that it was three-thirty. He figured he might as well head back to the Inn, both to get some food and wait for Lea.

As he headed down the street, smiling at the occasional passerby, a filthy old woman in rags grabbed his arms, causing Brad to yelp.

"A pity good sir; got nothing to eat!" she whispered, her horrid and rank breath nearly suffocating Brad.

"Let go of me!" Brad said, trying to pull his arm free. The woman's grip was strong.

"Just a single coin, kind sir!" the woman screeched. "That's all I'm asking for!"

"Money?" Brad cried, desperate to get this woman off him. "You're asking for money?"

"Me kids are starving! Please sir!" she continued to shriek.

"Fine!" Brad said, digging in his coin sack and pulling one out. The lady's grip never left his arm. He handed her the coin, and she looked it over before plunging it deep into her rags.

"Does the good sir have heart enough to give one more?" she said, her breath on Brad's face.

"No, he doesn't." Brad replied, and wrenched his arm away so hard that the woman stumbled. Brad stepped out of the way, and as she gathered herself he turned and walked quickly towards the Inn.

Once safely inside, he was greeted by Velus.

"Afternoon, Bradyn." he said. "Glad to see you took Palonirya up on her offer."

Brad grinned and seated himself at the counter. He didn't even have to speak; Velus simply smiled at him then set a steaming meat pie in front of him.

"Five gold." he told Brad. Brad paid up, and immediately set to work devouring the pie. They chatted casually, mainly about what Brad thought of the city.

"I haven't seen anything other than this district." Brad told him. "Leala's gonna take me around in a bit and show me the rest of the city."

"Ah." Velus said. "Lea's a good girl. Lives on the Waterfront, but she's not like the rest of the citizens there. They're all petty criminals, beggars, and skooma addicts. I sometimes wonder how the Nine Divines can allow people to turn out so horribly."

"Skooma?" Brad asked, confused. "Nine Divines?"

"Really now, where have you been?" Velus asked, also confused. "Sure you know of skooma and the Nine Divines, no matter where you come from. Skooma is a narcotic, a drug of sorts. Easily causes addictions. And the Nine Divines, well they are the gods of Tamriel. Gracious and kind, it is by their will that anyone is able to do anything. Now some people would argue against that, preferring the Daedra lords. I won't get into those."

"Wow," Brad said bewildered. "There's so much I don't know about this place."

"Why don't you stop by The First Edition? Phintias' store." Velus said. "It has many books on the history and cultures of Tamriel. Why'd you come to this land anyways?"

Brad was saved having to think of an answer by the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. He turned to see Lea walking towards him. She had changed into a red tanktop with a black skirt. Her clothes were pretty worn out, and Brad knew that she really must come from some sort of poverty. She had let her dark hair down, and it flowed luxuriously over her shoulders and across her back. She smiled when she saw Brad.

"You look nice." Brad said. He couldn't think of anything else to say.

She smiled again. "As do you. Course, first time we met you weren't wearing much of anything at all, so I wouldn't have anything to compare with now would I?"

Brad smirked back, hiding his embarrassment. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw Velus raise his eyebrows, but whatever the innkeeper was thinking he kept to himself.

"Ready to go?" Lea asked.

Brad nodded, and with that they were off. Lea took him throughout each of the districts, moving counterclockwise throughout the circular city. He learned the names of each district, and what class of people that lived in them. They didn't speak other than Lea explaining the various aspects of each area. Brad merely gazed wide-eyed at everything, shocked at how different this culture was from his own. They stopped in the Arboretum, just as the sun was beginning its descent, sitting amongst some rocks, chatting casually.

"I saw a poster for an Arena." Brad was saying. "Is there really one here?"

Lea nodded. "It's in the next district, the last one til we're back in the Market District. There's no need to go there, as there's nothing to see, and its getting to late to watch a fight anyways. Besides, I've never been much of one to watch grown men slaughter each other for a bit of gold. Just as bad as the Dark Brotherhood, if you ask me."

"Dark Brotherhood?" Brad asked.

"Assassins guild." Lea replied nonchalantly. "Bunch of crazies. Take contracts to kill people."

"Assassins!" Brad said, thinking back to the assassins he'd confronted the day before. Could this 'Dark Brotherhood' have been responsible?

"Yeah." Lea said. "Supposedly just a myth. But they are as real as any other guild."

Brad was deep in thought. He was suddenly struck with an idea. "Is the Gray Fox involved with the Dark Brotherhood? You know, that major criminal that has all those wanted posters everywhere?"

Lea gave him a stony look, as if trying to decide something. After a moment, she said, "No. The Gray Fox is not a murderer. He's the leader of the Thieves Guild. They may be the leading crime syndicate in all of Tamriel, but they are not murderers."

"Oh." Brad said, deciding the Gray Fox couldn't have been responsible for the Emperor's assassination. Another thought struck him. "I wonder if Thoronir is involved with the Thieves Guild. Could be where he gets his goods."

Lea seemed a little surprised at this. "You mean that wood-elf that opened shop recently in the market? I've heard of all the problems he's caused from the other merchants. But I'm certain he's not with the Thieves Guild. What makes you think he is?"

Brad wasn't sure he wanted to know how Lea was certain about it, and decided not to ask. He instead told Lea about what Jensine asked of him, and about his meeting at some garden that night. Lea seemed thoroughly interested at that point.

"Well," Lea said. "It's not normal for an honest merchant to buy stolen goods, but I daresay it isn't entirely impossible. Perhaps Thoronir _is_ meeting with a member. Do you know what garden they're meeting in?"

"Uh-uh." Brad said, shaking his head. "It didn't say."

"Well then, we'll have to follow him won't we!" Lea said, standing eagerly. Upon seeing the look on Brad's face, she added, "Yes, _we_. I'm going with you."

Knowing it would be pointless to argue, and secretly glad for the company, Brad stood up as well. "Fine. Then we'll follow him."

"It's seven-thirty now, shops close at eight." Lea said, checking her own watch. "We need to catch Thoronir as he leaves, or he could disappear anywhere without us finding him. We better get moving! We'll take the Green Emperor Way!"

And with that, the two took off, with Lea obviously in the lead and Brad following behind. They entered through another pair of those big, heavy, double doors, and Brad paused a moment to take in the amazing sight. Straight ahead of him was the base of the huge skyscraper-like structure he had seen earlier. It stretched high into the sky, disappearing into the night. Lea turned to see him gazing at it.

"The Imperial Palace." she explained shortly. "Some say it used to be an ancient Ayleid tower. But nevermind that right now, we have other matters to tend to."

Brad, figuring he could always come back to stare at the tower later, agreed. The two ran off again, up a flight of stairs and to the north. They passed an archway that led down a flight of stairs and towards more giant doors. Brad realized as he looked around that this area was a central access of sorts. All of the districts were connected through here. It made sense.

The two ran towards the next archway, passing by a couple of golden-clad guards that looked at them with vague suspicion. The leapt down the flight of steps, and ran through the doors leading to the Market District. Thoronir's shop was only a few yards in front of them. Thoronir himself was just closing the door, locking it behind him. Brad and Lea spun behind the building to the left, ducking out of sight. Lea peered cautiously around the corner, and motioned for Brad to follow when it was safe.

Thoronir was a ways ahead, and the two walked out casually, veering off at a slightly different angle, in case Thoronir happened to turn around. As soon as he had disappeared around the corner, however, the two sped up and plastered themselves to building, with Lea again peering around the corner at ground level. She stood up suddenly.

"He just went into the inn!" she said, sounding a little surprised. After moment, she continued. "Should have figured. All the merchants hit the inn after they close shop. It's the closest place that serves alcohol. It's the ideal time for any thief to hit the shops."

Brad chose to ignore this last comment.

"Makes sense for Thoronir to go in there." Lea continued thoughtfully. "As much as he's disliked, they'd notice if he never showed up."

"I dunno…" Brad said. "After his fight with Phintias last night, I wouldn't expect him to go back again right away. Though maybe people here just don't hold grudges like they do in my…erm…_land_."

"Hmmm." was Lea's only response. "Shall we just wait out here till he comes out then?"

"No." Brad said immediately. "That could take hours. We'll go in the inn too, it's not like it would be suspicious for us or anything. Besides, I'm hungry."

Lea rolled her eyes, but nonetheless stood up and headed down the street, muttering: "Men. Care more for their own stomachs than anything else that might be going on in the world."

Brad cocked and eyebrow and followed. The two entered the inn. It was the same crowd as the night before, and the strong-looking man that had tried to get Brad to drink with him saw him and immediately called him over. Brad exchanged a look with Lea, who nodded slightly, and they went over to his table. They both had made a mental note of Thoronir, who was seated by himself at the counter, looking a little anxious and gloomy.

"I never properly introduced myself." the man was telling Brad. "Name's Maro Rufus. Work at the Best Defense."

"Bradyn Torrez." Brad said, recognizing Maro's name from Rohssan. Seeing Maro look pointedly at Lea, he said, "And this is my friend Leala."

The two smiled at each other. Brad and Lea seated themselves at the table, making sure to be at an angle in which they could watch Thoronir. Maro was chatting amicably with Lea, while Brad listened politely without understanding a word of it.

"So you are a Breton?" Maro has asked Lea, to which she nodded. "Good, good. I've always liked Bretons. They have the elfish gene, obviously, given their affinity for Magicka, but they don't parade like royalty like the Altmer do. They're not annoying like Bosmer, and nowhere as creepy as the Dunmer. Do you practice Magicka at all?"

"A bit." Lea responded, to Brad's amazement. "I've mostly practiced in the College of Destruction, though I've more recently been trying to get a hang at Illusion. It's neat really, watching someone turn themselves near-invisible, though I'm nowhere near that level of ability yet. The most I've been able to do is see in the dark."

"Ah yes." Maro said. "I only know a bit of Restoration myself, but all good fighters do. Or should, anyways, since it's much easier to cast a spell on yourself than it is to eat an herb or drink a potion."

"So anyone can learn Magicka then?" Brad interjected, sounding hopeful. Maro and Lea both seemed taken aback by that.

"Of course!" Maro replied. "Though no one really _learns_ Magicka, other than new spells. Everyone just, well, knows how to use it. You mean to say that you don't know how to even use it?"

"No…" Brad said slowly. "Do you think you guys could teach me?"

"Brad," Lea said just as slowly. "How to use Magicka isn't something that you can just…_teach_. Everyone is born with some, innate knowledge on how to…erm…draw up the Magicka within them and form it into a spell. It takes practice to learn how to form spells, of course, but everyone is nonetheless able to draw out the Magicka. I don't think there's any way to teach someone how to do that."

"You could try someone at the mages guild…" Maro said thoughtfully. "Or the Arcane University, here in the Imperial City. The people there devote their lives to the study of Magicka and it's properties, so they may be able to help you out."

Brad thought about this while Lea and Maro continued their conversation. His initial feeling was that of confusion. Draw out Magicka? From within? He wondered if, since he was of a completely different world, he would even have any Magicka in him. This thought upset him a little, for the prospect of using magic seemed thrilling to him. To throw fire, or heal wounds, or turn invisible….that would be _incredible_.

Deciding to visit this 'Arcane University' the next day, Brad turned back to the conversation with Lea and Maro. He tried to join in when he could, but mostly just listened intently, reveling in the strangeness of it all. At one point Velus came over to inform him that it would be another twenty gold if he wanted to stay other night, so Brad paid him. They ate their dinner, talking and laughing the whole time. Maro tried persuading Brad to have a drink with him, but a look from Lea quelled that idea.

At around eleven-thirty, the patrons began to head out. Maro was extremely drunk at that point, thus being loud and obnoxious, but Brad had nonetheless grown quite fond of the man. Thoronir finally made a move, standing up and leaving rather abruptly, without a word to anyone. Brad and Lea waited a few seconds before getting up as well, Brad giving the excuse of walking Lea home, to which Maro clapped him on the back (painfully) and gave him a drunken wink. In another few seconds, Brad and Lea had slipped out the door and into the brisk night air.

They saw Thoronir off to their right, catching a glimpse of him as he quickly turned the corner behind the buildings. They ran after him, as quickly yet quietly as possible. Once at the corner, they both peeked around to see him vanish into a path between the two buildings. They followed, and once they'd turned onto the path as well the saw Thoronir stopped a few yards ahead in what Brad realized was a little garden, with some shrubbery and a few flowers.

Lea squatted immediately, motioned to Brad to do the same, and was instantly gone. Brad initially thought she had cast an invisibility spell on herself, but soon realized she had simply slipped into the shadows, perfectly quiet. Brad followed suit, and both were soon edging their way as close to the waiting Thoronir as possible, Lea extremely quiet and Brad not as much, though Thoronir remained oblivious. After a few minutes, a tall man with blonde hair slicked back into a ponytail came from around the corner.

"About time, Agarmir." Thoronir said quietly.

"There were some…problems, with the most recent shipment." the man called Agarmir said.

"Right." Thoronir said, sounding increasingly nervous. "Look, I appreciate all the good business you've caused me, but I think it's about time we end this partnership. People are getting suspicious, and have even resorted to sending foreigners in to try and find out where I'm getting my goods."

A long, sparkling blade was instantly at Thoronir's throat. "Thinking of ratting me out, are you?" Agarmir said threateningly.

"No!" Thoronir said almost pleadingly. "Nevermind! Forget what I said, we'll keep business as usual then. When's the next shipment coming in?"

"Tonight, if all goes well." Agarmir replied, and as he said this he looked directly at Lea and Brad, causing both to gasp a bit. Agarmir's eyes wandered past them, and they quietly breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't seen them.

"Good," Thoronir was saying. "Then I'll leave you to it."

With that, he turned and walked back the way he came, oblivious to Brad and Lea crouched inches away from him. Agarmir looked around for a few seconds, than turned and walked his own way. Lea and Brad glanced at each other, and reached an unspoken agreement: They had to follow him.

And follow him they did. They stayed a good distance behind him, taking care not to look to conspicuous should he turn around, but he never did. He led them through the Green Emperor Way, past a few doors, and finally into what Brad recognized as the Talos Plaza District, where the richest manors in the city were located. Agarmir didn't enter one of those manors, however, but one of the smaller sidehouses. Brad and Lea stood walked up to his door.

"Is he with the Thieves Guild then?" Brad asked.

"No. He's not." Lea responded, not even trying to be subtle. She couched in front of the lock, examining it. "Yes, simple. Very simple. Two tumblers, three at the most. No problem."

"What?" Brad asked incredulously.

"Well, we have to go in there don't we?" she responded as she pulled a thick metal stick with a little hook out of her pocket. "And I am going to pick the lock."

Brad watched with fascination as Lea gently stuck the pick into the lock, and began slowly maneuvering it up and down. Her face was intensely concentrated, and Brad couldn't help but think that she was somehow channeling her mind down her arm and through the lock, carefully feeling each tumbler as she gently prodded it into place. After a few minutes, the door gave a satisfying click, and Lea slowly opened it. Without a word, both her and Brad slipped in.

The house was about as big as the shops Brad had been in, with a staircase right by the door and various furniture in the room. Another door was underneath the staircase, and Lea motioned for Brad to follow her to it. It was also locked, and after another minute or so Lea had picked it open as well. They slipped inside, to find themselves in complete darkness. They listened intently for a moment, then a blinding purple light erupted from Lea's hands and flowed directly into her eyes. Brad, still stunned at the light, felt her hand on his shoulder, and saw the same purple light flow from her hand, up his shoulder and directly into her eyes.

There was an explosion of purple. Brad instinctively shielded his eyes, but found that did nothing to stop it, and realized that his eyes didn't hurt at all. But he could see, perfectly, even though it was like looking through a bright purple lens. He looked at Lea, who was also purple, and knew that she saw this too.

"What is this?" he whispered.

"Night-Eye." she whispered back. "Let's you see in the dark. Now hush, let's go."

_Night vision then. Except purple._ Brad thought. They cautiously made their way down the stairs, and found themselves in the cramped, wet, and warm stone basement. There wasn't anything immediate interest, though after a few seconds Brad saw a muddy shovel laying next to a pile of-

"Bones!" Brad whispered loudly. He and Lea made their way over to it, and saw a dirty journal lying on top of a wooden table next to the shovel. Brad opened it. "_'Macabre Manifest'_. Nice."

They looked through it, and saw a list of names with checkmarks next to them. "I recognize some of these!" Lea said. "Their the names of family crypts in Green Emperor Way."

"Look at this one," Brad said, pointing to the one on the very bottom of the list. "It doesn't have a check yet. That must be where Agarmir's going tonight!"

"That's in the city too!" Lea cried. "He's a graverobber Brad! That's even worse than a freelance thief! We can't let him do this. We have to stop him."

Brad agreed, and the two quickly and quietly made their way out of the house, taking the journal with them. Once outside they darted around the corner, just as Agarmir himself appeared out of his house and set off towards Green Emperor Way without a pause. Brad and Lea, now slightly fearful of him, waited till he vanished before heading there himself. Once in the center of the city, Agarmir was nowhere to be found, but Lea knew the general direction to go. It didn't take long to find the crypt, as the door was open slightly.

"Go get the guards." Brad told Lea. "I'll go in and spy on him."

"No!" Lea said. "You're not going in there alone. Besides, I'm stealthier, I'll go. You go get the guards!"

"You are definitely not going in there alone. Could you defend yourself if he were to attack you?" Brad said. Lea looked down. "Exactly. So go get the guards. I'm going in."

With that he slipped inside, leaving Lea looking distressed. Brad blindly reached into his sack, for the Night-Eye had worn off, and found his leather cuirass. He pulled it on as quietly as possible, and strapped his new sword to his side. He silently made his way down the stairs, cursing himself for having to act so heroic. He had simply wanted Lea to think he was brave, and instead had once again found himself scared for his life, walking through the dark and somber crypt that smelled strongly of death.

He had no sooner approached the open stone coffin, seeing the muddy shovel propped against it, when a laugh echoed throughout the tomb. Brad spun around, sword immediately unsheathed. He couldn't see anyone, but nonetheless knew he was there.

"I knew you would come straight for my trap." Agarmir shouted from somewhere, the echoing of his voice making it impossible to discern where exactly. "I saw you and your little girlfriend sulking in the garden earlier, and purposely mentioned that this crypt was my next target."

"Did you really think you could get away with this for much longer, Agarmir?" Brad shouted back, trying to hide the shaking in his voice.

"I've been doing fine." Agarmir replied. "And I will continue doing fine, even after this minor setback. Both you and the girl will be dead, and no one will be any wiser. Who would miss a girl from the Waterfront and the Stranger from beyond the seas?"

"You had to have realized that Lea went to get the guards." Brad taunted, taken aback at how this man seemed to know them. "Or are you really that stupid."

Agarmir laughed. "I had guessed as much. So I made sure to have a man on the outside. The girl is most likely lying in a pool of her own blood as we speak."

_Oh God, _Brad thought. _This can NOT be happening…what have I done?_

"You're bluffing." Brad said as calmly as he could.

Suddenly, a strong pair of arms wrapped around Brad's throat, causing him to drop his sword in shock. "Am I?" Agarmir breathed into his ear, tightening his chokehold.

Brad grabbed the strong arms and pulled, trying to loosen the grip and catch his breath. Firmly grasping Agarmir's arm, Brad performed the most basic Hapkido defensive maneuver he had ever learned. Leaning back to gain momentum, he lunged forward, bending over and popping his shoulder up, causing the heavy man to flip over and slam hard onto his back, the breath knocked out of him. Free to breathe, Brad grabbed his sword and stepped back, trying to catch his breath.

Just then, the crypt door flew open, and a thick-looking man charged down the stairs, wearing a full suit of steel. He was shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Agarmir!" he was yelling. "We have to get out of here! The guards are coming! I had the girl but-"

He stopped short when he saw Agarmir lying winded on the floor, with Brad standing over him. He immediately drew his sword, and charged at Brad without a second thought. Brad readied his own sword, and nimbly stepped aside as the man swung straight down at him. The man immediately turned and swung again and again. All he could do was block the man's blows, not daring to attack and open himself up. He finally swung hard at the man, who knocked aside his blow easily. Brad had anticipated this, however, and countered with a swift left hook to the jaw. The man stumbled a bit. Knowing he could never penetrate the steel armor, Brad used the hilt of the sword to bash the man's face in. There was a sickening crack, and blood poured out of the man's now broken nose.

Agarmir had regained his composure by now, and attacked Brad from out of the shadows. He was unarmored, however, and Brad took advantage of this. When Agarmir swung down, Brad parried the blow and delivered a swift kick to the assailant's stomach. Agarmir, not expecting this at all, instinctively doubled over. Brad grabbed the back of his head and pushed down on it, swiftly thrusting his knee up to meet it. Agarmir, dazed and bleeding, managed to stumble away, and Brad took this moment to run for the door.

He had barely made it to the top of the stair when he felt a surge of electricity flow through his body. He shook violently, every inch of his body in pain, but nonetheless managed to turn around. He saw Agarmir at the foot of the stairs, smirking despite the blood, his hand outstretched and still glowing slightly. He charged up the stairs at Brad.

Enraged, Brad ignored the pain of the electricity sizzling through him, and used both hands to parry Agarmir's blade. The sword was knocked aside, and Brad wasted no time in smashing his foot directly into the man's face, causing him to tumble down the stairs and hit his head on a pillar with a horrible crack. Brad leapt off the stairs, sword in hand, ready to face the other man. The other man stared at Agarmir's crumpled body in shock, and before either man could react, three guards came charging into the crypt.

Agarmir's associate fought as best he could, but it was only a matter of seconds before he too lay crumpled on the floor. The guards seemed to be telling Brad something, but he couldn't hear them. His head was ringing horribly, and all he could do was stare at the crumpled body of Agarmir, who he had killed. Killed. He had KILLED. A human being. Like him. Dead.

He briefly felt Lea at his side, her arm linked through his. She was also saying something, but Brad could not even bring himself to try and listen. What had he done?

He somehow ended up outside. He sat down on the nearest rock, Lea walking back into the crypt. She emerged some time later, and seated herself next to Brad. She was saying something.

"-said they'd been looking for these two." she was saying. "Apparently, Agarmir had robbed most of the crypts around, though they didn't know it was him. They're extremely grateful for what we did though. Especially you Brad, they're extremely happy and surprised to see that you took on two full-grown Nords and don't have a single visible scratch to show for it."

Brad said nothing, half-listening and half-lost in though. Lea sensed his grief. "You did a good thing tonight. And it was in self-defense, Brad. You're not a murderer. Agarmir deserved it."

"Is it really up to us to decide who deserves to live and who deserves to die?" Brad muttered softly.

Lea was silent for a moment. "No, I suppose not. But you were looking out for yourself Brad, there's nothing wrong with that. Maybe it would have been better for Agarmir to spend the rest of his life in a prison cell. Though the penalty for grave-robbing is death anyway, so it would have ended this way anyway."

"He said you were dead…" Brad muttered again.

"Yeah," she said matter-of-factly. "He certainly tried. Gave me a damn good scare too. Snuck up on me and grabbed me. I reacted though. Shocked the bastard, enough to loosen his grip and get away. The guards had heard me scream, but I was too shook up to try and explain what was going on. So I just ran back to the crypt and they followed."

They sat in silence for what seemed an eternity. Brad was too lost in thought to speak, and Lea understood why. All she could do was offer him silent comfort. Images of Agarmir, crumpled, broken and bloody, was all that Brad could see.

_So this is what it feels like._ Brad thought grimly. _To kill a person. How can anyone do this? Maybe it's not so bad after the first time, though I really don't want to have to find out what the second time feels like. Serial killers…they're a lot more messed up than I had imagined…to just take someone's life…_

Thoughts like these ran throughout Brad's head in an endless cycle. After a while, Lea finally stood up. "I better get home," she said. "It's almost three in the morning. Oh! I nearly forgot!"

She bent over and pulled up a sword from the ground, handing it to Brad. It was sparkling, and Brad recognized it instantly.

"It was Agarmir's." she said. "The guards wanted you to have it, as a token of their appreciation I guess. It's enchanted with Magicka, though I don't know what kind of effects it will have."

Brad was unable to hide his expression of horror. Lea saw this and sighed. She squatted down, and forced Brad to look up at her.

"You did a good thing tonight." she said again, and leaned forward to kiss him lightly on the cheek. "Goodnight Brad."

He watched as she turned and disappeared into the darkness, his hand unconsciously touching the spot she kissed. After a few more minutes, he closed his eyes and tried to focus his restless mind. He could feel the tears welling up, tears of exhaustion and grief and horror, but decided that he'd already cried once and that was enough. Deciding he should head back to the inn and get some sleep. He slowly stood up.

It hit him hard. Bending over, Brad vomited painfully and horribly. He willed himself to keep on vomiting, hoping to throw up his grief as well.

* * *

**Told you it was long. Anyways, if you're worried that this is gonna turn into some sappy-love fic between Brad and Lea, think again. I'm not saying that there won't necessarily be a romance between them, but I haven't quite decided about that yet. Right now, Lea is there for emotional comfort, as well as to help Brad learn how to get by in this world. And, of course, a bit of a love-interest. Anyways, reviews are lovely!**


	3. The Avid Collector

**Author's Note:** **Ah! So you all might want me dead right now. It's been like what, 3 months since my last chapter? I'm really sorry guys. Life has been kicking my ass right now. This fic is not dead though, just remember that. Anyways, here is the 3rd chapter. A longish one for you.  
**--

The sunlight streamed through the small window, slowly heating the cold stone room. The bed became uncomfortably warm, causing Brad to slowly awaken as he unconsciously shifted to a cooler spot. As he became fully conscious, his entire body began throbbing horribly. He slowly lifted his heavy eyelids, blinking multiple times to clear his vision. He was utterly fatigued.

Brad slowly lifted himself out of the bed, his body screaming at him in agony. He was no stranger to sore muscles and exhaustion, but this seemed to be ten times worse. He also felt extremely gross, as if he'd gone to bed straight after a hard workout. He realized he was still fully dressed, minus his shoes, and remembered he had simply gone straight to bed.

This in turn caused him to remember the events of the night before, and he immediately felt that familiar hollow sensation in his chest. Brad quickly shook his head, taking deep breaths. He was going to move on, he had decided. There was no point in dwelling on it, and Brad hated to worry over the past. So he instead decided to work on getting all the kinks and knots out his body, and began a series of stretches, breathing deeply.

It was at this point that a knock came from the door. Brad flipped out of his backbend, grimaced at the feel-good pain, and opened the door. Lea was on the other side, dressed in her cleaning clothes with her hair again pinned up. She smiled as she saw him.

"You look like hell." she said.

"Don't feel much better either." Brad replied, smiling back.

"I was hoping you'd still be here." she said. "I didn't know if you were going to Chorrol today or not."

Brad cursed. "I really need to get there as soon as possible."

"Yeah," Lea said. "You still have time. If you leave in like the next hour, you could definitely get there before sunset."

"Yeah…" Brad replied slowly. "But there are still things I want to do in the city…"

"Like what?"

"Well," Brad bit his lip as he thought. "Velus had mentioned that Phintias' bookstore had some books with the history of Tamriel and whatnot. I was hoping to stop by and get a few, cuz as you know I know nothing of this place."

Lea cocked an eyebrow. "That's it? That won't take long at all. Besides, there's a bookstore in Chorrol too."

"I…err…also wanted to go to that University." Brad said hesitantly. "The one Maro was talking about, with the mages? I was hoping they could show me how to use Magicka."

Lea nodded. "I'd figured as much." There was a slight pause, then, "Oh! How are you doing on gold? I mean, not trying to be demeaning or anything, nor do I know what it is your going to do, but if you don't have sufficient funds, you could find yourself in a bit of trouble."

"Actually," Brad said slowly. "I had been thinking about that myself. I was thinking I might go check out some of those ruins, like the ones to the east of here. You know: the 'treasure-hunter' thing."

Lea nodded again. "I also had figured as much. You look the type, and most of the people around here have taken you for one anyways. What ruins did you have in mind?"

"The ones east of here." Brad said again. "On an island in the middle of the lake. I saw them when I exited…umm…when I first arrived."

"I know the ones." Lea said. "Ayleid ruins. I don't know what the name is, but uh…rumor has it that a large party of bandits has established a base in there. No one knows for sure though, and the guards can't be bothered to check it out until someone's actually killed."

"Oh." Brad replied feeling a little disheartened.

"There've been many rumors about that place though, for as long as I can remember." Lea said. "Whispers of black magic and whatnot. Check it out though; I'm sure you could find some good loot to sell. And hey, if there really are bandits and dark mages down there, I'm sure the city would be extremely grateful to you for getting rid of them."

"As in…killing them?" Brad said. "Kill…again?"

"Oh, Brad." Lea replied softly. "Look, I realize you have morals and everything, about taking another person's life, and that's good, but remember: sometimes killing is the only way to go. Not killing in cold-blood, no, that's for the Brotherhood. But in self-defense, or for the protection of a city or a settlement, that's different." She paused as she saw Brad's doubtful look. "Listen, bandits and necromancers, or uh… any renegade that makes a living in ruins and caves and ambushes merchants on the roads, or uh, raids defenseless settlements, well, none of them would think twice before killing you. So it comes down to how you react. Do you…cower away? Do you try reasoning? Talking? Or do you do what you have to do, that which will protect you? Ninety percent of the time, killing is all you can do."

Brad began to protest. "But Agarmir-"

"Agarmir was different." Lea replied, cutting him off. "I'll admit to that. He was civilized. Well…as civilized as someone that digs up graves is. But nonetheless, he would have killed you last night without a second thought. His crony sure as hell had no qualms with trying to kill me. But we reacted. We fought back. And you did what you had to, and you protected yourself, and quite possibly me, and Agarmir died as a result. Besides, it's actually considered lawful to kill renegades, as it improves the peace and welfare and whatever."

Brad remained silent for a bit, thinking over all this. He could find no counter-argument to Lea's logic. "What constitutes as a cold-blooded murder than? Something the Brotherhood would notice?"

"Hmm." Lea thought for a minute. "Obviously killing for the pleasure of it. Get in touch with your inner sadism I guess. Killing a defenseless opponent, probably. Probably anything that questions morality, you know? And, personally, I've always felt that killing for revenge is cold-blooded. Not that I would really know, but, well, you know."

"Mmm." was Brad's only response. "How will I know though? I mean, whether my killing is justified?"

"I don't know Brad…" Lea finally replied, sounding a little unsure. "I guess you'll just… know."

"Alright…" Brad said after a long pause. "I'll go check out the ruins. I do need the cash… But I don't know about the bandits. I still think that killing…is just…wrong. Maybe I'll just sneak past them. But I'm definitely going down there. It wouldn't be the first time I've gone far underground in old ruins and stuff."

Lea just remained silent, a small smile on her face. Brad bit his lip again, then asked, "Have you killed before?"

Lea looked away. After a few minutes, she said, "Yeah. Once. I live on the Waterfront, remember? Sometimes the sailors get a little drunk, and stuff happens." She waved her hand dismissingly. "But it doesn't matter. Listen, I better get back to work, and you're probably gonna want to head into the ruins soon, cuz sometimes they can take a whole day to clean out."

Brad nodded, making a mental note on how Lea avoided his question. She continued talking. "Go get cleaned up. Put your clothes outside the washroom door while you bathe, and I'll wash 'em for you and get the blood out."

"Thank you Lea." Brad said. She smiled at him and gave a small wave, heading into the next room with her cart of cleaning supplies. Brad headed for the washroom, throwing his clothes outside the door before bathing.

Twenty minutes later, Brad was back in his room, wrapped in a towel. True to her word, Lea had taken the stains out of his clothes and left them draped across the bed. Brad dressed quickly and headed downstairs. Velus greeted him, and he seated himself at the counter to eat some breakfast.

"I never heard you come in last night." Velus was saying. "Lea told me what happened though. And I must say: I am very grateful to you for it. And I'm sure all the merchants are, especially Thoronir. Make sure you go see him today; and Jensine as well."

Brad agreed, and then asked how to get to the Arcane University. Velus explained where it was, and that he should find Raminus Polus, whoever that was. Brad finished his breakfast and headed out into the street. He decided to stop by Jensine's before anything. She was quite pleased to see him.

"Ah! Bradyn!" she said. "I've been waiting for you to come by. I've heard everything that happened last night."

"Already?" Brad said in disbelief. "Did Lea tell everyone?"

Jensine gave a short laugh. "Gossip spreads incredibly fast around here, young man." She paused for a moment, as if expecting Brad to say something. When continued to stare at her in mild confusion, she said, "Well I expect you want your reward for your efforts. I did promise some gold was in store. And you really did help everyone out."

Brad said nothing. Jensine handed him a small pouch. "Here you are: two hundred gold. And of course, you have my eternal gratitude."

Brad thanked her, and asked, "What about Thoronir? What's going to happen with him?"

"I had a long talk with him this morning. I believe that he really did not know what he was getting himself into by working with Agarmir. Nor did he know where Agarmir was really getting his goods, though he admits to having suspected foul play. He has also agreed to join the Society, and I will personally make sure that everyone in the Market District will welcome him warmly."

"Well that's good." Brad said.

A few minutes later, Brad was heading towards The Copious Coinpurse. Thoronir was also very pleased to see him.

"Ah!" the elf said. "Master Torrez! The savior of my reputation."

Brad gave him a hesitant grin. Thoronir continued. "Listen, I'm really thankful for what you did, I really had no idea that Agarmir was up to such horrors."

He continued on for a bit, repeating basically everything Jensine had already said. Brad found his attention waning, as he was getting tired of hearing about how heroic he apparently he was. He honestly felt like he hadn't done anything worth celebrating. It wasn't until Thoronir presented a gold ring, one that gave off a subtle glow, that Brad's attention snapped back into focus. He realized Thoronir was saying something.

"-is enchanted. Protects the wearer from the elements." Thoronir said. "And I swear that this did not come off of a corpse. It's actually been in my family for generations, but seeing as how I have no offspring and doubt I ever will, I give it to you."

"Wow, Thoronir. Thank you." Brad said as he took the ring and slid it on his middle finger. It fit perfectly, and its subtle light seemed to rapidly spread from it and across his body. He gazed in wonder, feeling the presence of the Magicka in his body, like some electrical current. It reminded him of putting a shirt on directly out of the dryer, still full of static. He became more anxious to head to the Arcane University.

So that is what he did. He spoke with Thoronir for a bit longer, than took his leave. He followed Velus' directions, heading through the Arboretum and out of the city gates. He found himself on another bridge-like structure. He couldn't help but feel peaceful, albeit a bit overwhelmed, as he looked at the surrounding countryside. It was only 10:30 am, and the morning sun was shining brilliantly. The surrounding lake glistened peacefully, the perfect shade of blue.

Brad relished the fresh air and slight breeze, thinking he could really enjoy being here if weren't for the obvious reasons that he was alone, scared, didn't know what was going on or what to expect, and that there seemed to be something evil going on concerning the Emperor.

Thinking of the Emperor he realized that no one seemed to know his true fate yet. It had been a couple days, and the most anyone knew was that he had disappeared after his sons were murdered, which meant he had either gone into hiding or had been killed himself. No one knew for sure. Except for Brad, of course. And Baurus, wherever he might be.

Brad shook his head and moved on. He entered the large fortress like structure across the bridge, and found himself in a sort of courtyard. There were steps a few yards in front of him, that led up to a needle-like structure. Directly to his left was a typical guard, except this one had a blue hood on.

"Morning citizen." the guard said. "And welcome to the Arcane University. Is there anyway I may assist you?"

"Yes, uh, I'm looking for Raminus Polus?" Brad asked hesitantly.

"Certainly." the guard replied. "He can most likely be found in the Arch-Mage's Lobby, directly through those doors there." He pointed at the base of the needle-structure.

Brad thanked him and headed towards the structure. Inside, he found himself in a dark, circular stone room. There were a few benches and a desk, and Brad was reminded of a reception area in a hospital or something. What really caught his attention was a circular platform, about a yard in diameter. It was glowing brightly, and seemed to be emitting sparks. There were strange symbols drawn on it, and Brad could feel the unmistakable electric tingle of Magicka radiating from it.

In fact, Brad could feel the tingle of Magicka radiating from the entire building. It was obvious these people spent all their tying practicing magic. Brad knew that he made a smart decision coming here. If there was anyway he was going to find out if he had any inner Magicka in him, this was the place to try. He then noticed that he was being watched, and looked around.

He immediately realized that a man was seated on one of the benches, clad in aqua-green robes. He was very strong looking, and his brown eyes were full of intense wisdom. He had brown hair, with streaks of grey beginning to make an appearance. Brad wondered if that was due to some magical side effects, as the man looked like he could be no older than thirty. Brad headed over and stuck out his hand.

"Bradyn Torrez." He said slightly nervously. "Please call me Brad. Are you Raminus Polus?"

The man shook his hand, smiling softly. "That I am. I had heard there was a new foreigner in the city, someone from beyond the seas apparently. Would that be you?"

"Yes." Brad said. There was a slight pause, then, "Look, I'm gonna get straight to the point. I…can't use Magicka. I don't know how. And I mean as in…I don't know how to draw out the Magicka in me to form a spell or whatever. Or if there even is any Magicka in me. I was hoping you could…err…teach me."

Raminus just stared at Brad for what seemed an eternity. It wasn't really a confused or dumbfounded stare, but more so a thoughtful one. "Where exactly are you from? I get the feeling there's more to 'beyond the seas' than you're letting on."

Brad just stared back, trying to think of what to say. He decided that there wasn't much use to lying, especially to this guy. "Alright. I'm actually not from beyond the seas. I'm really from a…uh…well an entirely different world."

"Hmm." was Raminus' only response. "It wouldn't be the first time someone from a different realm, or world if you will, has come to Tamriel. Though they could all use Magicka. You come from a most peculiar world then."

Brad said nothing. Raminus just gazed at him, obviously lost in thought. Brad grew impatient, not to mention slightly irritated. "Well?" he said. "Can you teach me or not?"

"Well," Raminus said slowly. "I can certainly try. It is most unusual…no, it is basically unheard of for someone to not know how to draw out their Magicka. Even the youngest of children are able to draw it out, though not always with any result."

"Do you know if I even have any in me?" Brad asked, a little nervous.

"I would assume so, but I cannot say." Raminus said, shaking his head. "But you've come to the right place to find out. The Arcane University is so full of magical energy that it is possible to harness it right out of the air and use it. That is why it is such an ideal place for mages to hone their abilities and experiment with different spells."

Brad nodded. "Look, if you're gonna want any payment of sort, I don't have much in the way of gold but I promise that-"

"No, no, no." Raminus said quickly. "That won't be necessary. You are a most extraordinary case indeed, and will contribute greatly to the study of Magicka. I would be more than happy to try and help in whatever way I can."

"Sweet." Brad said, smiling. "When do we start?"

"Well," Raminus said. "Now is as good a time as any. And this central building has the most magical energy radiating through it out of the whole University, due to its central location. Did you have any other engagements or should we get started?"

Brad shook his head. Raminus smiled and nodded, then motioned for Brad to have a seat on the bench across from him. Brad sat down.

"Okay," the mage said. "First I will give you a general outline on Magicka. Magicka is basically the manipulation of one's surroundings. Everyone, and everything for that matter, has this physical energy inside of it that can be harnessed and used. Everything from plants, water, animals, rocks, the air, everything, not just people, has this energy present in it. Sure, most objects have such small amounts that it isn't possible to use it, but it is there. That's why so many things are useful in Alchemy."

"What sort of energy is it?" Brad asked, intrigued.

"We cannot say." Raminus replied. "We believe it is directly tied into the person or object's being. Their existence. If the object exists, it has this energy in it."

"So if the energy is depleted," Brad began. "And taken out completely, does the object or person cease to exist?"

"That is the theory." Raminus replied, nodding. "But at this time there is no means of completely eradicating this energy from anything. There are spells that will absorb the energy out of people and objects and add it to one's own stores, but the energy can only be absorbed and depleted to a certain extent. It is as if there is only so much of the energy that can be used at any given time, as one cannot even drain they're own Magicka."

"So this energy is Magicka then, is it?" Brad asked. "And if a person uses too much of it, could it kill them?"

"Yes, it is Magicka." Raminus replied. "And a person could never kill themselves by depleting their Magicka stores. All Magicka replenishes itself anyways, except for those few who were unfortunate enough to have been born under the sign of the Atronach or are afflicted with a disease that stunts the refilling."

"So why is it impossible to drain something completely of its Magicka?"

"The currently accepted theory is that because it would be physically impossible for something to simply cease to exist." Raminus said. "Because that object or person takes up space in the universe, and therefore has mass. If that mass were to vanish, it would leave a void in its place. Something would have to fill that void, wouldn't it? And what would it be? Would the land collapse together in that space? It is just not physically possible."

"What about lightning?" Brad asked. "When lighting travels towards the ground, it rips through the air so fast that it creates a void, doesn't it? And that's where we hear thunder, from the air clapping together to fill this void."

"This is very true." Raminus said, obviously pleased at having this discussion. "But that is not a true void. The air that is replaced by the lightning does go _somewhere_. It is pushed along with the lightning, and ultimately slammed into the ground."

"Ah of course. The nitrogen cycle, right?" Brad said, feeling a bit foolish for forgetting this basic biology concept. Raminus, however, obviously had no idea what he was talking about. "Nevermind. Look, what you said makes sense, but also begs the question: How are you sure that Magicka is tied into an objects existence, if there is no way to test it? A theory isn't a theory without testing, and it would be impossible to test an object that does exist to an object that doesn't. You understand what I'm saying? This is basically what you are proposing: An object exists and has Magicka, therefore all objects that exist have Magicka and those that don't exist don't have Magicka. Well that is like saying that because you exist and are an Imperial, all people that exist are Imperials, and those that don't exist aren't Imperials. It's a logical fallacy. Get it?"

Raminus stared at Brad. "You are quite the intellectual, Bradyn Torrez. The type that has to have everything analyzed and proven before it can be believed. You're argument has a very valid point, and has been brought up many times. I will be honest with you; you and I are very much alike in that sense. Ever since that theory was first suggested many years ago, I have challenged it in the same way you just did. And while my disbeliefs have not gone unaccounted for, the theory is still the one everyone generally accepts. And why? Common sense. Because there is no way to prove, or disprove, that the theory is truth, than common sense tells us it has to be it. And in retrospect, it really is the best explanation out there at this time. From what we've discussed, what are your general beliefs on the matter?"

"Well," Brad said. "I don't know about this matter, but in general I believe that if I can use my senses on something, if I can see it and I can touch it, than it is real. Basically, if I believe it is real, than to me it is. That's how I've come to accept the fact that, no matter how much I really wish it wasn't, this place is real and I am really here."

"Very wise." Raminus said. "And strengthens my opinion that you are the type that needs solid proof of everything. But anyways, I'm afraid we've digressed horribly from your purpose of coming here. To teach you to use Magicka. As we have just discussed, because you exist before me right now, you must have the Magicka energy present in you. So now we will try to get it out of you. Are you ready?"

Brad nodded. Raminus told him they will be going through the basic steps all beginners of spell-casting go through, and hope it works for him. Brad was told to relax his mind, and focus entirely on what he was trying to do. Brad found this difficult at first, for who could possibly try and completely relax themselves when in a strange world attempting to use magic? But his years of martial arts training kicked in, and with Raminus help he was able to calm himself.

"Feel the energy around you." Raminus was saying. "Radiating from every inch of this room. Do you feel that energy? That almost electric charge? Now feel in your own body for that same charge. That same feeling. You will know when you have it. You will be able to feel it flowing through your body."

Brad felt deep, focusing his mind on the slight vibration that radiated throughout the room, searching for the same vibration in his body. For a minute he briefly thought about how stupid this was, and immediately lost the feeling of the energy around him. Sighing deeply and shaking his head, he again attempted to focus his mind. It was when he felt the hairs on the back of his neck and the goosebumps cross his arms that he knew. He had found his inner Magicka. He suddenly jerked from the feeling, and it immediately vanished.

Raminus was ecstatic. "Yes! That was it! So the unproven theory holds true yet again, you have Magicka. Now I want you to find it again, it will be easier from here on out. And when you do…" He suddenly swung his arm out, a dagger in his hand, slicing deep into Brad's shoulder.

Brad was at his feet, his hand on the hilt of the blade at his side. "What the hell!?" he shouted.

"Heal it." Raminus said calmly.

Brad paused. "What?"

"Connect with your Magicka, and use it to heal your shoulder. Just focus on what you want done."

Brad sat down again, fuming. He closed his eyes, and tried to focus. Immediately he felt the hairs on his neck stand again. It certainly was easier. He then tried focusing on the pain in his shoulder, picturing it unwounded. Instead all he could really see was Raminus attacking him with the dagger. He felt the tingling increase in his right hand, growing to a powerful vibration.

"Release it." was all Raminus said. Brad opened his hand, and saw a white light flow out from it, as the immense pressure was released. However, instead of flowing into his shoulder as expected, it rapidly spread throughout his whole body, starting from the top and working quickly to the floor before vanishing. Brad could still feel the electric tingle from it though.

"Interesting." Raminus said curiously. He lunged forward with his dagger, aiming to pierce straight through his shoulder. The dagger seemed to slip away off of some invisible barrier, and merely nicked him. "It would seem that you produced a pretty strong shield spell instead. You must have been more focused on not wanting to be hurt again than healing your wounds. Very nice. Now, however, heal it."

Brad shook his head. He had performed Magicka! He had created some sort of magical barrier around him, one that made it almost impossible for Raminus to seriously harm him. He grew eager to try again and quickly found the stores of Magicka within him. It seemed weaker though, as if there was less of it. He focused strongly on his bleeding shoulder, and released the pressure in his hand.

The light flew instantly from his hand to his shoulder, sealing the wound together and leaving only a tender pink spot. Raminus applauded, obviously pleased at what he had managed to accomplish.

"Well," Raminus said. "From here on you will be able to cast any spell that you learn. Some are more powerful than others, and therefore much more difficult to cast. Now I will teach you a few basic spells from each College, the ones that form a basis for every other spell."

An hour later, Brad was at the level of a basic mage. Not only could he could restore wounds and shield himself from damage, he was able to throw fire. He also learned how to manipulate his eyes so that every living creature gave off a sort of heat signature, a weird aura that allowed Brad to see where they were, even through walls. He was fascinated at this, as he could see the aura's of the many mages walking throughout the university. Raminus had informed him that as his powers increased, he would be able to see people 100 feet away.

The last spell he learned, and the one that had caused him the most difficulty, was to conjure up a small dagger from nowhere. Raminus had informed him that anything conjured does come from somewhere, from the "waters of Oblivion." Brad wasn't to keen on the idea of Oblivion, but was nonetheless fascinated as he managed to seemingly form the Magicka from his hand into a dagger.

"You have done amazingly well." Raminus said as he watched Brad drop his newly conjured dagger, which vanished as soon as it left Brad's hand. "And believe me when I say, not many people can master spells from each college as quickly as you did. You have some true talent."

Brad just smiled, still in a state of shock at being able to use magic. He couldn't help but to form fire in his hand yet again, marveling at how it seemed to only warm him up a bit and not cause any damage to himself. However, the longer he held it there the more it weakened, until it was completely gone. He tried doing it again, but instead all he got was a dry, hollow feeling.

"You've run out of useable Magicka." Raminus said. "You'll have to wait for it to replenish itself, or you could drink a potion to speed up the process."

Brad nodded, and then checked his watch. It was almost noon, and he still wanted to go into those ruins. He felt a little more secure about doing it too, now that he could use magic.

"Well, I think I better get going now." he said to Raminus. "I plan on exploring some of those Ayleid ruins to get some gold. Thank you so much for everything, I really do owe you. Are you sure there isn't something I can do for you?"

"Well," Raminus said. "If you promise me that someday you will join the Mages Guild and eventually come to work with me here at the University, then I will be more than happy. You obviously have some profound magical powers, and coupled with your intellectual mind I feel we could make some great advances in magic."

"Could I join now?" Brad asked.

"You need to go to one of the guild halls in the towns throughout Cyrodiil." Raminus explained. "There you can join. But in order to access the University, you need a letter of recommendation from every guild hall. Just speak to the leader's there; they'll explain what you need to do."

Brad nodded, and the two stood up, shaking hands. Brad thanked Raminus again, and took his leave. Back outside, he left the University grounds and found himself out on the bridge. He decided he would rather walk directly to the ruins from there instead of heading through the city. He jumped over the bridge wall, and slid down the hillside to the path below.

Ten minutes later, he was standing outside the exit from the sewed, the ruins directly across the lake from him. The hike there had been uneventful, but pleasant. The midday air was comfortably warm, with a nice breeze keeping it from reaching extreme temperatures. Brad thoroughly enjoyed the green landscape around him, and even broke into a light jog as he ran through the scenery. If only his cross country team could come run here, it would be a nice change from the brown desert lands of Arizona they usually ran through.

But now Brad was trying to figure out a way of crossing the lake to get to the island the ruins sat on. He had no qualms with swimming; he was just weary of getting all his stuff wet. It would get heavy, and he thoroughly disliked anything that weighed him down. He gazed at his old knapsack he had found in the caves, and again marveled at its ability to hold whatever he shoved in it. He wondered if it had any magical abilities, and vaguely wished he had asked Raminus about it.

Deciding he had no other choice but to hope his stuff didn't get to heavy, he put away his sword, closed off his knapsack the best he could and headed for the water. As an afterthought, he pulled off his shirt, shoes and socks and plunged them into the bag as well. Without a second though he was wading through the shallows, and in a few second was up to his neck as he leisurely swam across.

The swim wasn't long at all. Brad guessed it was a hundred or two hundred feet at the most. He soon found himself trudging up onto the shore, dropping his dripping knapsack onto the warm sand before sitting on a rock. The water had been excellent, and he felt refreshed and ready for whatever he might find in the ruins before him. They seemed taller from here, and the dirty white blocks still gleamed magnificently in the sunlight.

He opened up his knapsack, and was utterly surprised. Everything was dry! The bag itself had been soaked thoroughly, but all of its contents were as dry as ever.

"There sure as hell must be something magical about this." Brad said aloud to no one.

He pulled on his shirt with his leather armor over it. He pulled on his socks and leather boots, and strapped his sword to his waist. He had decided to use Agarmir's sword, as morbid as it might be. He figured the stupid man owed it to him, after what Brad went through. Without a second though, he headed for the doors of the ruins. There was wording over the doors, and though they were in a weird script, Brad could make _Vilverin_. He took a deep breath and entered.

The darkness was suffocating. It was just like the caves with the emperor all over again, with everything made out of a white brick that gave off a faint bluish glow. Brad was leery about lighting a torch, and decided to first look for signs of life. He felt for the electrical presence inside of him, and in a matter of seconds had cast a purple smoke over his eyes. There appeared to be no aura's anywhere near by, so Brad figured it was safe. He knew that his detect life spell only lasted for about fifteen seconds, and determined to recast it.

He lit his torch with a fire spell, and set off down the tunnel. There was a staircase that wound around and led deeper into the ground. He made his way through the tunnels, casting his spell repeatedly, and finding nothing of interest.

After a few minutes, there was a sudden aura visible in front of him, several yards ahead. Brad quickly killed his torchlight, and moved slowly towards it. As his eyes adjusted to the sudden darkness, he began to make out the outline of a person in the faint blue light. The figure was obviously a guard of sorts, as it stood diligently in the hallway, oblivious to Brad's present. Brad tightened his knapsack around him to reduce the noise, and crept closer.

The figure was dressed in some sort of furry armor. As Brad got closer, he realized it was a short female Imperial. She could obviously sense that something was moving around, as she slowly drew the blade at her side and peered into the darkness. Brad knew that if it came down to it, this woman would kill him in a heartbeat. He was close enough that he could have set her on fire, but he knew that that would ultimately result in a brawl to the death.

Not only did he not want to risk alerting the other bandits to his presence, he simply could not bring himself to kill this woman. So he did the only other thing he could do. He picked up a small rock that had broken off the wall, and lobbed it over the woman's head. It landed with a distinct crack behind her, and she turned swiftly to face the noise. He was immediately behind her, a large chunk of brick in his head. With a loud crack, he smashed it into the woman's head, crumpling her immediately. She still gave off an aura, but Brad checked her pulse anyways. She was out cold.

Stepping over her body, he cast his spell again. He counted at least five aura's radiating from beyond the wall in front of him. The path he was on branched both ways, but he knew the both ultimately led to the chamber the five bandits were hanging out in. Taking another deep breath, he crept through one of the doorways.

He was indeed in a large chamber. The bluish light was brighter here, and he could that there was only two bandits in this chamber. The rest of the signatures seemed to be coming from a lower area. There also seemed to be a branching path to his right. He was also not liking how many different paths there were, as more could be hiding out. He decided to try the area to his right, as he wasn't keen on sneaking past all the bandits around him.

The path led to a small room. There was a tall man sitting at a table in it, scrawling something hastily on a piece of paper. Brad marveled at how he was able to see, as the bluish glow was hardly worth anything. The man heard him coming, however, and paused. Brad hesitated, holding his breath.

"Didn't I say not to bother me?" the man said angrily.

"Apologies." Brad said without thinking, making his voice as low as possible. The bandit made no response to this, and continued to write hastily. Brad swallowed and edged forward again, making his way slowly into the room. If the bandit knew he was there, he made no sign to show it.

Brad moved as silently as he could, his heart racing and pounding loudly in his chest. He noticed there was a bed set up in the corner of the room, and a large chest at the foot of the bed. He knew that he should probably break into the chest and start gathering some loot, or his journey into this place would have been a waste of time.

As he made his way over to the chest, he did not notice that the scratching sound coming from the bandit's writing had stopped. It was only when he felt the cold metal of a sword pressed against his throat.

"Stand up." the man said softly. Brad did as he was told, slowly rising without turning around. Suddenly the blade disappeared from his throat, and Brad knew what was going to happen next. Time seemed to move in slow motion as Brad spun around without thinking. The man was in the middle of swinging his blade, which would have ended in Brad's head coming clean off.

Brad stopped the blade with his left hand while punching the man in the jaw with his right. The bandit hardly stumbled from the blow, and immediately began slashing at Brad. Brad jumped back away from the blade, flinging fire at the man before drawing his own sword. The flaming ball hit the bandit straight in the face, causing him to yelp and stagger. Brad didn't hesitate; he whacked the man as hard as he could with the flat of his sword, still leery about killing him.

The man stumbled and fell on the ground, lying still. He seemed to be unconscious, but Brad didn't know for sure. Not lowering his sword, he stepped cautiously towards the bandit. Without warning, the man popped up of the ground and plunged his blade deep into Brad's stomach, ripping through his insides and out his lower back.

Brad simply gasped, unable to really draw a breath. He could feel the blood rushing up his throat, making a gurgling sound. The bandit smirked and yanked his sword back out, causing Brad to collapse onto his knees. He couldn't feel anything. He knew there should be an excruciating pain, but all he could feel was a cold numbness.

Without even thinking about it he could feel the tingle of Magicka. He knew that somehow, he had been subconsciously drawing forth the power to try and mend the wound together. While it wasn't mending quickly or efficiently, it was working well enough for Brad to realize that the bandit was wasting no time in attempting to execute him.

Brad clumsily dove aside to avoid the bandit's blade. This movement caused him to lose his feeling of shock, resulting in a tremendous amount of pain. Blood was pouring heavily from his open wound, his flow of Magicka interrupted from healing it. This didn't stop him from striking back at the bandit, however.

Enraged, Brad kicked the man hard in the groin, resulting in the usual reaction. In a surprisingly swift motion, Brad was behind the man, both hands gripping his lower jaw. He twisted. There was a sickening crack as the bandit's neck broke. His body felt limp. He emitted a slow, eerie death rattle as the last of his breath exited from his lungs. In a matter of seconds, the man was dead.

Brad was on the floor immediately, coughing up blood. He tried desperately to focus his mind enough to heal his wound, but the pain made it impossible. Desperate, he fumbled with heavy hands through his knapsack. He finally found what he was searching for, and immediately poured the silvery liquid from the vial down his throat. The effect was instantaneous, with the pain subsiding greatly and the blood flow coming to a stop. Brad drank another just in case, leaving only a dull ache and a bright pink scar.

_Oh God_, he thought. _What have I gotten myself into?_

He leaned against the wall, his eyes closed as he mentally kicked himself over and over again. How could he have possibly been prepared for something like this? He remembered what Lea had said, about these people having no qualms with murdering him on the spot. Its not that he hadn't believed her or taken her seriously, he just could not bring himself to think that anyone could be like that. And now here he was, cowering in the dark, somewhere deep underground, having nearly been killed and on the brink of tears from it. He refused to cry again though.

He then realized that even though everything seemed completely out of his control right now, he wasn't going to let the situation get the best of him. He was simply going to have to make some changes in order to get a handle on things. It was something he had always been good at, adapting to a situation so that it always worked in his favor. Sure, it had never been as extreme as this, but he would have to do his best.

It was with this mindset that he stood up and prepared himself. From now on he would not hold back; if someone tried to kill him, he would kill them first.

_First of all_, he thought. _We need to see what we can use in here._

He glanced at the dead bandit. Lea had mentioned that looting corpses was perfectly legal and normal, but he nonetheless felt a little hesitant. After a few second, he strode over to the body. He wasn't too keen on the idea of taking off the man's armor, and instead just felt through his pockets. He found a small pouch containing a few pieces of gold, and a rusty old key. He took the man's sword too, figuring he could get something out of it.

The room itself wasn't too interesting. There was a chest at the foot of the bed, and the key from the bandit naturally fit into it. There wasn't anything of much interest inside, however, other than some more gold. Brad also checked out the desk that the man has been sitting out, and tried reading the letter from the dim glow of a small candle Brad lit. The note was more confusing than anything, and seemed more of a journal of sorts. It told of how some large blue stones the bandits had found scattered throughout the ruins reeked of Magicka. Brad noticed a few of these stones in a small basket under the desk, and dumped them into his knapsack.

The rest of the note talked of how two of the bandits, someone named 'Two-Coins' and a Khajiit from Vvardenfell, had decided to make camp in one of the lower levels. Apparently, the Khajiit disappeared, leaving Two-Coins alone. Two-Coins immediately returned, reporting that all he could hear were distinct scratching noises coming from inside the walls of the ruins. Brad felt a slight shiver run down his spine, remembering what Lea had said about black magic.

A few minutes later, Brad was creeping back out into the large chamber. The bandits were staggered about, some scouting out the area while others tied together bundles of loot. Brad crept past the silently. There seemed to be plenty of things Brad could have taken with him, but the risk of being caught was too great. He did stumble across another chest, and inside he procured a good amount of gold and other useless but valuable items.

He soon came upon a ledge, and the seemingly only way to continue through the ruins was to drop to the lower area. He wasn't too keen on idea, as the impact would not only be painful, it would be extremely loud. It was then that he noticed the make-shift ladder the bandits had constructed one side of the pit. He made his way to it, determined that there was no one nearby via spell, and descended. Perhaps the ladder was rotted, or he was just overweight, for her had almost reached the bottom when the ladder slapped off with a _twang!_ that reverberated in the air around him and sent Brad clattering to the floor. It went unnoticed by the bandits, but left Brad cursing. He would have to find another way up.

He continued on. It wasn't long before he came upon a door of sorts. It was more like a section of wall that somehow opened if pushed. There was a large, glowing mural of a tree on the door. Before Brad could go through, the silence was broken by a loud, gut-wrenching shriek, followed by a stampede of footsteps mixed with shouting.

"Murder! The boss is dead!" echoed throughout the ruins. Brad hesitated for a second and heard, "Look! The ladder!" That was all he needed to hear.

"Ah shit." Brad mumbled as he quickly slipped through the door, pushing it closed. The large stone door seemed to completely seal off all the noise coming from beyond it, leaving Brad standing in the dark silence yet again. Knowing he had a matter of seconds before the whole gang of bandits found him. He sprinted blindly through the corridors, casting Detect Life. No purple hazes appeared in his vision.

There was a bright light ahead of him, and he found himself standing in a sort of central room that branched off four ways. In the center of the room was a pedestal. There was what looked like an old fashioned urn sitting on the pedestal, but Brad wasn't sure how it opened. He decided he would have to come back to it after the bandits had passed. He sprinted off, choosing the path straight ahead of him. It was a dead end.

At this point Brad heard the unmistakable sounds of running coming from behind him. Left with no choice, he darted into a corner next to a tomb-like structure, crouching down and flattening himself into the wall. The footsteps stopped, and Brad was able to make out voices.

"—that direction." someone was saying. "We'll search over this way, and you go straight."

There were murmurs of agreement and then silence. Brad struggled to control his breathing, feeling as if his heart was going to burst through his chest. He mentally kicked himself for not recasting Detect Life again, and knew that if he tried it now he would likely be spotted. Sure enough, he sensed that someone else was in the small room with him, and was just barely able to hear the person's light footsteps.

The bandit drew closer to Brad's hiding spot, until he was actually breathing on Brad's face. Brad silently held his own breath, flattening himself against the wall as much as possible, willing himself to sink through it.

Time seemed to come to a standstill. The bandit continued to crouch in front of Brad, breathing lightly on his face, while Brad struggled to keep his own breath contained. For what seemed an eternity the two crouched there, with neither moving a fraction of an inch. Brad wasn't even certain if the bandit knew he was there, or if he was just listening for some sort of movement. Brad realized, however, that he had been unconsciously gripping the hilt of his sword the entire time. He knew then what he must do.

Soon enough, the bandit stood up again. Brad didn't hesitate one second. He sprung to his feet, his sword piercing up through the bandit's lower abdomen, coming out just below the back of his neck. He made an odd gurgling sound, and by some bizarre coincidence the bluish glow hit at just the right angle that Brad was able to make out the bandit's face.

He was actually a she. She looked young, was a bit shorter than Brad, and reminded him of Lea. She must have been a Breton. Brad realized she was actually very beautiful, despite her rugged look and cold blue eyes. Right now, however, her face was frozen in a look of utter disbelief and surprise. Her widened eyes pierced into Brad's, and he watched as they slowly glazed over and became lifeless. Her body collapsed onto the floor, leaving Brad staring at the darkness, the image of her bright blue eyes and shocked look forever burned into his memory.

He leaned across the tomb, holding his face in his hands. _This was supposed to get easier…_" he thought to himself. He knew that he was going to have to kill a woman eventually, but a part of him apparently didn't believe it. And now he had killed both man and woman. Maybe now it really would get easier.

Steeling his mind and body, he cast Detect Life yet again. The other bandits were still lurking off in the distance. Deciding he had no choice, he crept back through the hallways. It was then that he discovered that were little sub-passages that connected the four halls, so he turned right and worked his way over. Whichever bandit had been tasked with searching this area had already moved on.

He found himself in yet another dead end. Just as he was about to turn around and head back, a distinct scratching noise came from inside the wall. Shivers ran down his spine as he heard this. The scratching persisted and seemed to get louder and more furious. Just then, the bandits returned, torches ablaze.

Brad jumped back just in time as a large, metal hammer crashed into the stone he had been standing on. He sidestepped just as an arrow whizzed past his ear, sticking into the wall. He felt a strange sinking feeling. Looking down, he saw that the stone he was on had just sunk about a foot into the ground. A loud rumbling echoed throughout the little room as a large chunk of the wall sunk into the floor.

For the moment, Brad stood in the corner forgotten. The bandits paused, weapons aimed at the hole in the wall. An arrow suddenly whizzed through, sticking one bandit squarely in the head. Everyone simply watched him fall to the floor, just as a flood of skeleton's armed with blades and such came charging through the hole, accompanied by the zombie like creatures Brad had encountered in the sewers where the emperor died.

And thus the battle began. Swords, hammers and arrows all clashed as the bandits engaged the undead. Brad was now completely forgotten, and took this opportunity to get away. He was cornered in the small room, however, but soon spotted a small ledge a little ways up the wall. He quickly climbed on top of a tomb-like structure, and then leapt from there, grabbing the ledge with his legs dangling below him. A skeleton noticed this, and tried slashing at his legs with a blade. Brad tucked them up, causing the blade to barely miss and the skeleton to stumble forward from the momentum. Brad used this to his advantage, pushing both legs firmly off the skeleton's head, causing the creature to clatter to the ground and giving Brad just enough momentum to roll his body onto the ledge.

"Lara Croft don't got shit on this." he muttered aloud as he stood up, watching the battle ensue below him. The bandits were greatly outnumbered, though luckily the undead were weak enough that it seemed a pretty even fight. He began flinging fireballs at random into the crowd, not caring who or what they hit. He knew he needed to get through the passage way and into the rest of the ruins, and waited for an opportunity.

It finally came, as both bandit and monster had moved aside enough for Brad to get through. He leapt off of his ledge, spinning in mid-air to grab onto it and using his momentum to fling feet-first into the opening in the wall. He hit the ground at an angle, turning what could have been a painful landing into a slide tackle you would see at a soccer game. This turned out to be useful, as he slid right into an archer-skeleton, causing the creature to flip through the air and slam onto the ground, its rotted bones shattering.

"More Lara Croft." Brad muttered as he stood up and sprinted down the hallway. What he hadn't expected, however, was for the whole host of undead, who seemed to have an incredibly short-attention span, to turn and sprint after him. This left the remaining bandits no choice but to follow.

"Son of a BITCH!" Brad shouted as he saw the stampede of bandits and monsters pursuing him. He sprinted even harder, not caring where he ended up. To zombies appeared out of the darkness ahead of him. Hardly pausing, Brad plunged his blade through the chest of one and in one swift movement twirled around to decapitate the other. He continued down the hallway, dispatching whatever resistance he encountered.

He found himself in yet another chamber, this one brightly illuminated. He hardly looked around, however, as he soon spotted a gate-like door on the far wall. He sprinted over to it, only to learn that it was locked. Turning around, he saw that the horde of undead and the gang of bandits were coming up on him.

"Screw this." he said as he backed up several steps. Charging forward, he leapt into the air, hitting the gate feet first, causing him to crash to the ground as the gate broke off of its hinges and clattered to the floor. Brad wasted no time getting up and running through the doorway, as the battle between bandits and undead resumed behind him.

He was in yet another hallway, populated with yet more undead. He fought his way through, suffering minor scrapes and bruises that Magicka quickly healed. Deciding that stealth was long gone, he lit his torch to make the goings easier. Soon enough the hallways opened up on one side and Brad saw that he was on a sort of balcony overlooking a large chamber. There was a deep pool in the center of the chamber.

The battle had somehow managed to find its way into this chamber, as the last two remaining bandits dueled with countless undead. They were obviously losing, and they knew it. Their retreat was cut off. Brad saw that on the far side of the chamber was another door with the strange, glowing tree carved into it. He knew that was his exit.

Caution thrown to the wind, he secured his belongings and vaulted over the railing. He landed on the ground below, and immediately was engaged in combat with a couple of skeletons. Knocking them aside, he worked his way over to the door, his only focus being escape. Just as he reached the door, the last bandit was slaughtered. All attention soon focused on him, and without hesitation Brad slipped through the doorway and shut if behind him.

They monsters were apparently unable to open these doors, as none followed him. Finally feeling a bit of security, he quickly moved forward. It was strangely quiet, making Brad all the more weary. He soon reached another large chamber, though there didn't appear to be anything interesting in it. At the far end was another gate, and it too was locked. Brad could easily tell that this gate could not be broken down, however. He would have to resort to finding a key.

Making his way back to the other side of the room, he noticed that there were peculiar looking stones set against a pillar in rows of two-by-three. They were all giving off a faint glow, and looked almost like buttons. Brad cautiously pushed one of them, and sure enough it slid into the pillar. At the same time, a section of the wall to his right slid into the ground just as before. Brad walked over to the opening, sword drawn, only to be greeted by a zombie that was soon killed. There was nothing else in the alcove.

Realizing what he had to do, Brad jogged back to the buttons and tried a different one. Sure enough, a different section opened with the first closing. There was nothing in this alcove either, save an angry skeleton. Brad tried two more buttons, both to no avail. Finally, his fourth button revealed an alcove containing one of those urn-like things. Brad figured out how to open it, and sure enough inside was an old-fashioned key. He eagerly snatched it and jogged back to the gate, unlocking it and moving on.

There was nothing of interest after this point, and he soon found himself in front of another tree-door. On the other side, he soon found a small chamber with another pedestal, though this one was empty. There was a depression in the top of the pedestal though, and Brad knew that someone had taken whatever was here. He moved through the hallway past it, coming upon a large chamber.

There was a large fire blazing in the center of the chamber, surrounded by bones and corpses. An altar sat near the fire, on top of which was the body of a large cat, which Brad realized to be a Khajiit. The Khajiit looked as if an autopsy had been performed, or an Anatomy-class dissection, as its insides were open and exposed. What disturbed Brad the most, however, was the Redguard that stood over the corpse muttering an incantation, wearing a hooded black robe. The Redguard paused and turned to look at Brad.

"You have the absolute worst timing ever." the man said.

"What?" Brad asked, bemused. "Who the hell are you?"

"Jalbert." the man said casually with a hint of annoyance. "And if you had waited another five minutes before interrupting me, the spell would have been finished. I'm assuming then you've managed to get past all my guards and traps?"

"You mean all the undead?" Brad said, motioning behind him as he walked over to Jalbert, his sword raised. "Yeah, I did. So I'm guessing you're the black mage that was rumored to live down here."

"That would be me." Jalbert responded, leaning against the altar as if having a casual conversation. "And you are the brave hero that has come to slay me, right?"

"If need be." Brad said wearily.

"Well you don't sound too confident." Jalbert said. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to finish my experiment. You're going to die one way or another, so why not let me have some fun first?"

"What are you going to do?" Brad asked, looking at the mutilated corpse.

"Hopefully," Jalbert explained. "Create the most powerful undead creature ever known. I have removed the Khajiit's organs, and replaced them with those of the strongest variety, like from a troll or minotaur, even daedra. If it works, then this corpse will revive as something incredibly powerful. Mannimarco will most definitely welcome me into his cult with a discovery like this. All I need is to draw the power from this Ayleid statue." He motioned to a large ornate statue placed next to the corpse.

"Good god…" Brad muttered, absolutely horrified. He hesitated a split second, then lunged at Jalbert with his blade. Jalbert nimbly leapt aside, laughing.

"Have it your way," Jalbert said. He swung his arm in a wide arc, sending blue electricity throughout the chamber. All at once, every corpse sprang to life and charged at Brad.

Brad wasn't even sure what was going on. He began dueling left and right, deflecting a blow here, decapitating a corpse there. All he knew was the Jalbert seemed to be making for the exit, the large Ayleid statue in his arms. Why he was trying to escape, Brad did not know, but he knew that he wanted that horrible man dead. He shoved aside a large host of creatures, and sprinted after the sorcerer.

When he reached him, Jalbert spun around and swung his own blade at Brad. The two dueled, and both had to deflect the undead. Brad understood why Jalbert was trying to escape: not even he was safe from his own creations. So Brad used this to his advantage.

Jalbert swung his blade hard. Brad deflected the blow, and used Jalbert's temporary moment of recovery. Sidestepping swiftly, Brad grabbed a fistful of Jalbert's robes and swung the man straight into a skeleton. Jalbert and the monster grappled briefly, but Jalbert quickly caused the creature to explode from a bolt of electricity. However, as he turned to face Brad, Brad plunged his sword straight through Jalbert's heart.

Jalbert gasped once, then all the air left him. He collapsed on the floor, his blood flowing freely over the stone floor. All of the undead died with him, collapsing into a pile of corpses yet again. Brad stood for a moment, catching his breath, then snatched the large Ayleid statue away from the dead man.

"Now I really feel like Lara Croft." Brad said as he plunged the statue into his knapsack. "Kill the bad guy, save the world, claim the prize."

Now willing to stay in this place any longer, he made his way through the exit, and after a lengthy set of stairs, found himself on a ledge overlooking where he had first entered the ruins. Without further hesitation, Brad leapt off the ledge and charged out into the open air.

Ten minutes later, he was floating lazily across the lake. He had stripped off all his clothing and shoved it in his rucksack, letting the cool water flow over his aching, blood and grime encrusted body. He still wasn't sure how he was still alive, but he was not going to let it go to waste. All his anxiety seemed to flow away with the water, and the warm cheerful sunlight greatly calmed his mind after the fear and anxiety that accompanied the darkness of the ruins.

Eventually, he made his way back into the city. The sun was just barely beginning to set, and the streets of the city lit up as if they were on fire. Wanting nothing more than to take a bath, eat a large dinner, and of course hang out with Lea, Brad trudged towards the Merchant's Inn. Passerbies on the streets paid him little attention, as apparently it was an accepted fact that he was one of those 'treasure-hunters.'

However, a large man that Brad recognized as a Nord approached him. "Are you Bradyn Torrez, from beyond the seas?" the Nord asked. Brad nodded, confused and weary. "Good. Word has it you raided the ruins of Vilverin today."

"Right…" Brad said, mildly surprised at how fast word gets around.

"Good." the man said again. "I am Jollring. My master, Umbacano of the Talos Plaza District, would really like to speak to you. You must come at once, as it is most urgent. My master does not send out invitations lightly."

"What does he want with me?" Brad said, too tired to try and trust some stranger.

"That is a matter between you and him. I am just the messenger." Jollring said. "Please, come with me. I assure you no harm shall come of you."

Brad hesitated. "Whatever." he finally replied, and followed the Nord. Soon enough, he found himself inside a pretty large and pretty nice looking manor. Jollring led him up a set of stairs, motioning for Brad to go through the door on his own. He did.

Inside, a tall Altmer man was seated at a table. He motioned for Brad to do the same.

"Hello!" the Altmer said. "So good to finally meet you, Master Bradyn. I hear you're quite the treasure hunter."

"That's what they tell me." Brad said, utterly confused. The man laughed, not realizing Brad was serious.

"Well as I'm sure you know," he said. "My name is Umbacano. And I am a collector of all things ancient and mystical. Naturally then, anything to do with the Ayleids!"

He laughed again; Brad gave him a small smile. "Well then," Umbacano continued. "I head you recently raided Vilverin. Tell me then, what did you find?"

"Uh…" Brad stammered. "Well…there was a group of bandits, and a ton of undead monsters—"

"Yes, yes, utterly horrible." Umbacano said, clearly not listening. "But did you happen to find a statue?"

"You mean like this?" Brad said, pulling out the Ayleid statue from his bag. Umbacano's eyes lit up.

"Oh my!" he exclaimed, taking the statue from Brad and admiring it. "I knew Vilverin had one! I knew it! Unfortunately," he said to Brad. "I couldn't find anyone willing to investigate for me, due to rumors of a necromancer… By the Nine! Do you know what this is, Master Torrez?"

"An Ayleid statue." Brad said. "That's what Jalbert called it, anyways."

"Jalbert?" Umbacano inquired. "So he was the necromancer…I should've guessed. Anyways, this statue is one of the Ten Ancestors. They were ten statues crafted by the Ayleids, said to hold all the knowledge and power of the ancients. They were all kept in the Temple of the Ancestors, which is now what we know as the White Gold Tower. However, when the temple nearly fell due to a rebellion in Cyrodiil, the statues were separated and each was sent to be stored in a different Ayleid city, what we now know as the various Ayleid ruins scattered throughout the lands. Vilverin was obviously one of them."

"So if all ten statues were to be found," Brad asked, intrigued. "What would happen?"

"Well," Umbacano said. "The possessor of the Ten Ancestors would basically become an incredibly powerful being, said to rival even the Nine Divines in power. And to think, one of these statues has been under my nose this entire time…"

"Do you have any idea where the others might be?" Brad asked, definitely intrigued.

"Only vague ones." Umbacano replied. He remained quiet, lost in thought. After a minute, he said, "I am going to offer you a job, young Bradyn. Find me the other nine statues, and I will pay you greatly."

"If only it were so easy…" Brad said.

"You're right." Umbacano said. "The statues were hidden in order NOT to be found. How about this, I will pay you five-hundred gold for this statue, and an additional five-thousand if you can bring me the whole set. You will not be without help, as I will devote all my time and energy to researching possible locations and informing you of my findings. Of course, you are going to have to just look on your own as well. What do you say?"

"Sounds great to me." Brad said, thoroughly intrigued at this sort of idea.

"Wonderful!" Umbacano said. "Well then, I must get to my researching! Talk to Jollring at the door, he'll give your payment. I expect I shall be seeing you soon."

And with that, Brad was basically shooed. He made his way out of the manor, stopping to get his payment from Jollring. Sure enough, 500 gold pieces was added to his coin purse. As he headed back for the Merchant's Inn, he was beginning for the first time to feel as if being stuck in this strange land wouldn't be that bad. Heck, he'd just gotten a job as a sort of archaeologist. He didn't think it could get much better.

_Of course, _Brad thought. _My first priority will be to do what the Emperor wanted me to do._

**Author's Note: There you have it. I have no idea when the 4th chapter will be up, but just hang in there with me okay! Summer is fast approaching, which means plenty of time for updates for me. Okay? Reviews would be lovely.**


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